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THE  ESSENTIALS   OF 
BUSINESS   ENGLISH 


PORTER  LANDER  MacCLINTOCK,  M.  A. 

Of  University  College,  The  University  of  Chicago, 
Author   of    "Literature   in  the    Elementary   Schools." 


La  Salle  Extension  University 
-*     Chicag^o 


1915 


Copyright  1914,  1915 
LaSalle  Extension  University 


All  Rights  Reserved 


PREFACE 

My  dear  Student  : 

In  order  to  make  sure  of  your  reading  this  preface  I  am 
putting  it  into  the  form  of  a  personal  letter.  You  should 
never  fail  to  read  the  title-page  and  the  preface  of  your 
book.  You  will  sometimes  find  explanations  and  points  of 
view  there  that  will  light  up  the  whole  book  for  you.  In 
this  preface  I  want  to  give  you  some  simple  practical  direc- 
tions for  doing  the  work  the  book  calls  for;  to  tell  you 
what  you  need  not  expect  to  get  out  of  it ;  and  to  suggest 
to  you  how  to  get  out  of  it  the  utmost  help  it  has  for  you. 

1.  I  want  you  to  do  all  the  work.  Some  of  it  may  seem 
simple  and  familiar.  But  such  parts  are  stepping-stones 
and  are  necessary.  You  have  noticed  that  when  the  team 
first  runs  out  on  the  foot-ball  field,  they  toss  the  ball  and 
run  about  like  children.  They  are  ''limbering  up";  and 
the  process  is  necessary.  So  I  want  you  to  take  the  easy 
sentences  and  exercises  as  limbering-up  movements.  If 
you  do  you  will  scarcely  notice  that  they  slowly  grow  more 
complex.  Do  everything  you  are  asked  to  do,  and  do  it  as 
well  as  possible. 

2.  You  can  see  that  I  have  written  it  air  as  simply  as 
it  could  be  written,  using  as  few  technical  termg  as  possible. 
But  I  beg  you  not  to  be  frightened  at  the  names  of  things 
in  grammar  and  the  other  branches  of  language  study.  If 
you  studied  an  automobile  you  would  learn  in  five  min- 
utes the  words  cylinder,  sparh-plug,  ignition,  carburetor, 
cam-shaft,  and  a  half  score  more;  the  very  children  in 
the  street  use  the  words  aeroplane,  monoplane,  hiplane, 

iii 


389465 


iv  PEEFACE 


propeller,  and  a  dozen  other  purely  technical  terms.  They 
use  them  correctly  and  never  dream  of  evading  them  or  of 
substituting  other  and  simpler  words  for  them. 

The  few  technical  terms  you  need  to  know  in  grammar 
are  easier  to  learn  than  the  technical  names  of  things  in 
other  fields  and  are  quite  as  necessary  to  know.  I  would  not 
insult  your  intelligence  by  translating  into  babble  such 
terms  as  inflection,  agreement,  conjugation,  or  by  assuming 
that  you  can  not  learn  at  a  glance  a  participle  or  an  adverb. 

3.  Two  things  I  have  taken  for  granted  about  you  in 
writing  this  book.  One  is  that  you  have  had  schooling  equal 
in  amount  at  least  to  that  given  in  the  six  or  seven  grades 
of  the  public  schools.  This  means  that  you  have  had  con- 
siderable drill  in  grammar  and  are  ready  to  apply  your 
knowledge. 

The  other  thing  I  take  for  granted  is  that  you  are  eager 
to  get  ready  for  the  thing  you  want  to  do  in  the  world  and 
for  the  world.  I  do  not  have  to  beg  you,  or  to  bribe  you, 
or  to  pull  you,  or  even  to  lead  you  tenderly  by  the  hand. 
I  don't  even  have  to  interest  you.  You  are  already  inter- 
ested— ^what  a  failure  I  should  be  if  I  could  not  keep  you 
interested ! 

Now,  it  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  I  work  for  you. 
If  I  am  mistaken  in  my  first  assumption,  if  you  have  not 
had  any  grammar  or  if  you  have  forgotten  it,  or  if  you 
were  wholly  engaged  in  tying  Jane  Doe's  and  Mary  Roe's 
hair-ribbons  together  while  your  teacher  was  teaching  the 
grammar-lessons — then  I  must  depend  on  you  to  get  a  nice 
simple  grammar  such  as  they  use  in  the  grades,  and  have  it 
handy  to  turn  to.  What  you  learn  for  yourself  is  doubly 
yours.  And  if  you  are  going  to  be  a  success  in  any  busi- 
ness you  must  learn  to  master  for  yourself  the  tools  and 
machines — including  in  this  case  the  simple  fundamental 
things  of  grammar. 


PKEFACE 


If  I  am  mistaken  in  the  second  assumption — ^but  that  is 
impossible. 

4.  In  preparing  your  lessons  I  have  followed  no  hard 
and  fast  rule  as  to  the  arrangement.  No  teacher  sticks 
through  thick  and  thin  to  a  ''method."  He  suits  his 
method  to  the  material  and  the  class.  You  will  notice  that 
in  some  cases  I  have  given  exercises  first,  showing  many 
views  of  the  form  I  want  you  to  learn — so  that  by  the  time 
you  have  done  those,  you  will  know  the  rule.  In  other 
cases  it  seemed  a  saving  of  time  and  energy  to  state  the  rule 
or  principle  first  and  then  show  its  application.  You  don 't 
have  to  memorize  and  remember  these  rules — except,  per- 
haps, those  for  spelling:  you  have  only  to  get  the  correct 
form  fixed  in  your  head,  in  your  tongue,  in  your  hand. 

5.  In  a  few  cases  it  seemed  necessary  to  give  examples 
of  mistaken  usage  in  order  to  correct  it.  One  would  not 
do  this  if  he  were  teaching  young  children.  But  for  ex- 
perienced students  such  as  those  that  will  use  this  book,  I 
have  no  fear  that  they  will  learn  the  wrong  form,  or  that 
by  some  psychological  perversity  the  wrong  form  will  stick 
in  their  minds  and  the  right  one  fall  away.  But  as  a  pre- 
caution I  would  ask  you  never  to  read  the  wrong  form 
aloud,  and  never  to  write  it  off. 

6.  In  addition  to  this  book  and  to  the  possible  grammar, 
you  will  need  a  dictionary.  You  may  be  so  fortunate  as  to 
have  access  to  dictionaries  in  a  school-room  or  a  library, 
but  you  should,  if  possible,  have  one  of  your  own  always 
beside  you  when  you  write  or  study.  The  dictionary  work 
in  this  book  is  based  on  Webster's  Secondary  School  Dic- 
tionary ;  the  little  desk  and  pocket  volume  is  too  meager  in 
its  details  to  be  of  much  value.  There  is  a  liberal  education 
in  your  dictionary.  It  would  take  another  volume  to  tell 
what  I,  myself,  have  learned — curious,  interesting,  beauti- 


vi  PEEFACE 


ful,    helpful   things — from    my   little    dictionary   in   the 
process  of  making  this  book. 

7.  Try  to  kill  as  many  birds  as  possible  with  every  stone. 
When  you  study  a  sentence  given  to  illustrate  (let  us  say) 
a  possessive,  learn  also  the  spelling  of  any  word  you  were 
not  sure  of  before ;  remark  the  punctuation ;  read  it  aloud 
so  as  to  get  an  ear  image  of  it ;  write  it  off  so  as  tp  get  a 
motion  image  of  it ;  construct  another  like  it ;  get  everything 
out  of  it  you  can.  This  is  what  constitutes  study,  and  this 
is  what  creates  memory.  I  would  modestly  boast  that  every 
correct  sentence  given  in  the  book  is  one  that  you  may  easily 
have  use  for,  or  that  will  serve  you  as  a  model. 

8.  The  title  of  the  book  was  chosen  after  much  delibera- 
tion and  consultation,  and  means  precisely  what  it  says. 
You  will  notice  that  it  has  three  terms : 

Essentials — I  have  tried  to  include  everything  that  will 
help  to  the  writing  of  clean,  clear,  effective  English.  It  is 
not  a  complete  speller,  grammar,  composition,  or  rhetoric, 
but  it  tries  to  give  you  the  practical,  useful  core  of  four 
such  books. 

Business — It  tries  to  stick  close  to  what  you  need  in 
actual  communications  and  transactions  involving  everyday 
affairs  and  the  basic  matters  of  business.  It  does  not 
undertake  to  teach  literary  composition  or  criticism,  though 
it  teaches  nothing  that  would  not  be  valuable  to  a  literary 
student.    It  simply  stops  short  of  the  literary  training. 

English — It  does  not  undertake  to  teach  business,  or  a 
business.  It  tries  to  keep  as  close  as  possible  to  its  purpose 
— the  purpose  of  equipping  you  to  express  yourself  in  what- 
ever business  you  may  go  into.  If  you  go  on  to  become  an 
advertiser,  or  a  commercial  correspondent,  or  an  expert 
private  secretary,  or  a  professional  writer  on  business,  you 
will  have  to  take  advanced  professional  courses  to  equip 


PREFACE  vii 


yourself  for  these  things.  But  I  venture  to  say  you  will  not 
have  to  unlearn  the  things  you  learn  in  this  book. 

9.  Keep  this  book  on  your  desk  or  on  your  handiest 
book-shelf  and  turn  to  it  whenever  you  feel  puzzled  in  your 
writing.  It  ought  to  serve  you  as  a  sort  of  encyclopedia  in 
its  own  field.  I  have  attempted  to  arrange  the  topics  in  a 
natural  sequence;  but  it  is  almost  impossible  in  such  a 
book  to  make  it  entirely  evolutionary.  You  will  have  occa- 
sion to  turn  to  the  chapter  on  punctuation,  to  the  chapter 
on  the  formal  parts  of  a  letter,  etc.,  before  you  come  to 
them  in  going  regularly  through  the  book.  So  much  the 
better!  The  more  you  can  use  it  as  a  reference  book,  the 
more  good  you  will  get  out  of  it.  I  should  like  to  teach 
it  to  you  myself;  but  since  that  is  impossible,  I  must  con- 
cent myself  with  wishing  you  all  success  in  mastering  it, 
and  all  success  in  whatever  business  it  may  serve  you  in. 

Among  the  large  number  of  books  consulted  I  am  espe- 
cially indebted  to — 

"Business  English."     Edwin  Herbert  Lewis. 

"Business  English."^    Rose  A.  Buhlig. 

"A  Manual  for  Writers."    Manly  and  Powell. 

"The  Business  Letter."    Ion  E.  Dwyer. 

"A  Brief  English  Grammar."     Scott  and  Buck. 

*'The  Practice  of  Typography."     Theodore  Low  DeVinne. 

"The  Essentials  of  English  Composition."     J.  W.  Linn, 

"Advertising  as  a  Business  Force."     Paul  T.  Cherington. 

The  Author. 
July,  1914. 

^My  thanks  are  due  to  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  for  permission  to 
adapt  two  exercises  from  Buhlig's  "Business  English."  My  thanks 
are  also  due  to  Small,  Maynard  and  Co.  for  permission  to  use  several 
passages  from  Brandeis's  "Business  a  Profession." 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Introduction ix 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Grammatical  Correctness — Inflection    .    .  1 

II.  Grammatical  Correctness — Agreement    .    .  21 

III.  Grammatical  Correctness — Government  .    .  31 

IV.  Correctness  in  Diction 36 

V.  Correct  Arrangement 57 

VI.  Vocabulary 69 

VII.  Clearness S6 

VIII.  Effectiveness 105 

IX.  Spoken  English 

A.  Speaking  English 122 

B.  Making  a  Speech 134 

X.  Spelling 147 

XI.  Punctuation 171 

XII.  Business  Composition 

A.  Business  Letters 196 

B.  Miscellaneous     Business     Documents 

AND  Social  Letters 249 

Index 269 


INTRODUCTION 


Good  English  is  English  that  is  good  for  its  purpose. 
There  may  be  people  who  use  words  for  the  sake  of  talking  ; 
but  nobody  listens  to  them— so  their  language  doesn't 
count.  Most  of  us  speak  and  write  for  the  sake  of  produc- 
ing an  effect.  We  want  to  make  an  idea  plain  to  another 
person;  we  want  to  persuade  another  person  to  act;  we 
want  to  share  our  pleasure  with  another ;  we  want  to  secure 
sympathy  with  our  own  joys  and  sorrows  or  with  those  of 
another. 

If  we  are  wise  we  will  adapt  our  language  to  the  subject 
we  are  talking  about  and  to  the  person  we  are  talking  to. 
Bare  and  poetical  words  would  be  out  of  place  if  you 
were  merely  ordering  your  dinner — they  would  not  express 
your  ideas  and  your  cook  would  not  understand  them. 
Fine  writing  is  as  much  out  of  place  in  everyday  business 
as  are  fine  clothes  in  a  business  office. 

There  is,  however,  a  place  for  poetical  words  and  for 
fine  writing,  just  as  there  is  a  place  for  fine  clothes.  If 
you  are  writing  an  oration  for  some  soul-stirring  occa- 
sion you  want  that  kind  of  fine  and  noble  words  that  make 
eloquence ;  if  you  are  writing  a  poem  you  want  that  kind 
of  fine  and  delicate  words  that  make  beauty.  But  when 
you  are  writing  about  the  practical  affairs  of  life  you  natu- 
rally choose  a  simple,  direct,  conclusive  form  of  expression. 

Nevertheless,  the  same  qualities  underlie  all  kinds  of 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 


good  writing.     There  are  only  four  of  what  we  call  the 
qualities  of  style.    They  are  these : 

Correctness 
Clearness 
Force 
Beauty 

Two  of  these — correctness  and  clearness — are  necessary 
in  all  speech  counted  good  at  all.  They  are  the  foundation 
on  which  all  writing  and  speech  must  be  built.  Of  course 
everybody  knows  that  a  man  who  violates  every  rule  and 
defies  every  accepted  usage  may  make  himself  understood. 
But  he  is  sure  to  meet  his  Waterloo.  As  he  goes  on  into 
better  places  and  more  complex  affairs  there  will  surely 
come  a  time  when  he  will  not  be  understood.  And  at  what 
a  cost  does  he  conduct  his  affairs  if  he  is  ignorant  of  or- 
dinary good  usage!  What  humiliation  he  feels  when  he 
realizes  that  he  can't  make  his  meaning  clear! 

And  the  failure  to  express  oneself  clearly  and  correctly 
has  a  practical  side.  Look  at  the  innumerable  troublesome 
and  disastrous  law-suitg  that  come  into  our  courts  on  ac- 
count of  the  double  meaning  possible  to  some  word  or 
phrase  in  a  business  document.  A  business  man  who  was 
going  to  London  on  a  most  important  mission  for  his  firm 
arranged  to  start  from  his  country  home  near  a  small  town. 
He  was  to  take  an  afternoon  train  which  was  given  in  the 
railroad's  folder  with  a  footnote:  **Makes  regular  stop  on 
Sunday."  He  interpreted  ** regular  stop"  to  mean  that 
it  stopped  every  day.  When  he  went  to  take  this  train  on 
Monday,  he  found  that  it  stopped  at  his  station  only  on 
Sunday.  He  missed  his  boat  at  New  York,  he  lost  his 
business  chance  in  London.  That  ambiguous  word  cost  his 
firm  many  thousands  of  dollars — indeed  it  may  have  altered 
the  whole  course  of  the  firm's  history. 


INTRODUCTION 


XI 


Yes,  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  writer  who  makes  no 
mistakes  in  grammar  or  diction,  and  whose  meaning  is  un- 
mistakable has  the  two  qualifications  that  do  most  for  him 
as  a  business  writer  or  speaker.  A  vast  volume  of  busi- 
ness English  needs  just  the  qualities  of  correctness  and 
clearness — and  needs  nothing  more. 

But  there  are  circumstances  under  which  you  want  to 
add  to  the  two  basic  qualities  the  quality  of  force.  You 
want  to  make  your  statement  strong,  as  well  as  clear  and 
correct;  you  want  emphasis;  you  want  to  strike  attention 
so  hard  as  to  hold  it ;  you  want  to  persuade  the  person  you 
are  talking  to — to  convince  him  first,  and  then  persuade 
him  to  act.  This  quality  of  style  is  very  important  in  busi- 
ness English.  Force  is  another  word  for  effectiveness  and 
for  emphasis.  It  does  not  differ  in  kind  from  force  or  effect- 
iveness in  literary  writing.  It  is  only  applied  to  a  different 
kind  of  subject  and  addressed  to  a  different  audience. 

Business  English  does  not  make  so  much  of  the  quality 
of  beauty  as  literary  writing  does.  We  do  not  neglect  it, 
but  we  feel  that  business  writing  has  its  own  kind  of  beauty. 
If  it  is  correct,  clear,  and  forceful,  we  feel  that  this  union 
of  qualities  constitutes  its  beauty.  We  do  not  try  for  dec- 
orative words,  for  musical  phrases,  or  for  beautiful  images, 
unless  they  serve  our  practical  needs.  Of  the  four  qual- 
ities of  style,  we  make  least  of  the  quality  of  beauty. 

Whatever  kind  of  writing  you  are  going  to  do,  you  need 
to  learn  how  to  secure  these  qualities.  If  you  go  at  once 
into  business,  the  time  may  come  when  you  will  be  an  author- 
ity in  your  line  and  will  be  writing  articles  and  books  that 
must  go  out  and  be  judged  just  as  all  writing  is  judged. 
And  if  you  go  to  college  you  will  find  that  what  you  have 
learned  about  these  standard  and  accepted  qualities  of  style 
puts  you  immediately  into  line,  and  perhaps  saves  you  a 
good  year  of  time  in  English. 


Xii  INTRODUCTION 


We  should  reject  that  narrowing  view  that  there  is  an 
*' academic "  or  learned  correctness  or  clearness  different 
from  practical  correctness  or  clearness.  This  view  is  the 
fruit  of  ignorance  or  prejudice.  There  is  only  one  kind 
of  either  quality.  The  apparent  difference  is  a  difference 
in  the  subjects  treated  or  a  difference  in  the  persons  ex- 
pressing themselves.  When  I  say,  ' '  The  sages  are  no  more 
infallible  than  the  saints  are  impeccable,"  I  am  quite  as 
correct  as  when  I  say,  ' '  The  paper  boxes  are  crushable  and 
the  glass  jars  are  breakable";  but  I  am  no  more  so.  If 
one  of  the  sentences  sounds  more  formal,  it  is  because  the 
thought  is  not  familiar  and  not  practical.  Of  course  I  can 
be  priggish  and  pedantic;  I  can  say,  ''The  receptacles  of 
paper  are  no  more  imperishable  than  those  constructed  of 
glass  are  indestructible";  but  I  should  only  be  absurd — 
not  incorrect.  Especially  I  should  not  be  ''academically" 
correct.  There  is  not  a  teacher  in  any  school — even  in  a 
college — ^who  would  not  hoot  at  such  a  sentence. 

Two  facts  make  all  the  differences  there  are  between 
literary  writing  and  business  writing:  Business  writing 
deals  with  objects  and  facts,  and  aims  at  a  practical  result. 
Literary  writing  deals  with  emotions  and  ideas,  and  aims 
at  artistic  results.  The  differences  between  them  do  not 
affect  correctness,  clearness,  and  force.  Only  a  knowledge 
of  these  qualities  and  of  the  means  of  securing  them,  will 
make  you  safe  and  firm  in  any  kind  of  writing. 

II 

We  begin  naturally  and  logically  with  correctness.    There 
are  three  aspects  of  correctness  that  we  must  study : 
1.  Correctness  in  grammar; 
Z.  Correctness  in  the  choice  of  words; 
3.  Correctness  in  the  arrangement  of  words. 
We  shall  begin  with  grammatical  correctness,   because 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 


this  will  do  more  than  either  of  the  others  to  put  in  order 
the  English  we  already  have. 

If  you  were  a  merchant,  and  had  reason  to  think  that 
there  was  something  wrong  with  your  business,  you  might 
call  in  an  efficiency  man  to  help  you  put  it  on  a  better  foot- 
ing. And  the  first  thing  he  would  do  would  be  to  examine 
your  business  just  as  it  stands.  He  would  look  over  your 
stock  and  examine  your  books;  he  would  show  you  what 
goods  were  unsalable  and  dead ;  he  would  show  you  the  mis- 
takes in  your  books.  After  that  he  would  advise  you  about 
buying  a  new  stock  and  adopting  a  new  method  of  keeping 
your  books.  But  if  you  were  alert  you  would  ask  *  *  Why ' '  at 
every  step  of  the  process.  * '  Why  can 't  I  sell  these  collars, 
these  suspenders,  these  gloves?"  And  if  he  said,  **Well, 
people  who  know,  don 't  use  them  any  more ;  they  are  made 
of  cheap  and  perishable  material ;  they  are  made  on  a  poor 
patent ;  that  device  has  gone  out  because  the  principle  was 
wrong,"  you  would  ask,  "What  is  the  right  principle? 
What  are  the  known  rules  of  choice?  I  must  know  these, 
so  that  I  shall  make  no  more  accidental  mistakes. ' ' 

It  seems  wise  when  you  desire  to  improve  your  language 
to  begin  with  an  examination  and  rearrangement,  if  neces- 
sary, of  the  supply  you  have  on  hand — you  have  a  large 
stock — and  find  out  what,  if  anything,  is  wrong  with  it. 

Do  you  say — 

**He  ain't"  when  you  mean  '*He  isn't"; 

"She  don't"  when  you  mean  "She  doesn't"; 

* '  It  don 't  make  no  difference ' '  when  you  mean  *  *  It  makes 
no  difference"; 

"  It 's  me  "  when  you  mean  "  It 's  I " ; 

"I  will  be  sorry  to  see  you  go"  when  mere  politeness  re- 
quires you  to  say  "I  shall  be  sorry  to  see  you  go"; 

"He  shall  take  the  medicine"  when  you  have  a  right  to 
say  only  "He  will  take  the  medicine ' ' ; 


Xiv  INTEODUOTION 


"I  didn't  object  to  him  helping"  when  you  mean  *'I 
didn't  object  to  his  helping"? 

Now  when  you  read  the  foregoing  paragraph  you  can  at 
once,  and  finally,  correct  these  particular  mistakes ;  but  there 
are  many  more  possibilities  of  error  in  the  classes  from 
which  these  are  taken,  and  many  more  classes  of  errors. 
So  you  ask  at  once,  **How  can  I  avoid,  not  only  these 
mistakes,  but  those  of  the  same  kind?  What  are  the  rules 
or  principles?" 

This  takes  you  at  once  into  grammar.  It  is  a  very 
surprising  thing  that  many  people  consider  grammar  a 
dull  and  difficult  subject.  They  consider  it  dull,  either 
because  they  had  poor  teaching  when  they  studied  it,  or 
because  they  had  no  living,  practical  interest  in  it,  and  so 
no  motive  for  learning  it.  If  they  should  take  it  up  again 
when  they  had  immediate  use  for  it,  when  they  could 
apply  it  at  once  in  their  affairs,  or  in  their  preparation  for 
business,  they  would  find  it  living  and  far  from  dull. 

Those  who  considered  it  difficult  probably  found  it  so 
because  they  were  led  into  some  of  the  logical  and  abstract 
sides  of  the  subject.  Grammar  is  like  all  the  other  sciences 
— it  has  simple  practical  stages  or  sides,  and  it  has  advanced 
and  theoretical  sides.  You  know  that  when  you  study  elec- 
tricity you  can  take  it  up  on  a  scale  that  will  cost  you  a 
lifetime  of  study  in  a  million-dollar  laboratory.  But  you 
know,  too,  that  there  are  aspects  of  it  that  you  can  master 
in  a  few  months  in  an  ordinarily  well-equipped  shop  that 
will  make  you  a  good  practical  electrician. 

Grammar,  too,  has  its  simple  practical  sides — those  sides 
that  concern  correctness  of  speech — actual,  practical  speak- 
ing, the  plainest  and  most  everyday  writing.  It  is  no  diffi- 
cult task  to  learn  these  few  important  principles,  and  so 
safeguard  ourselves  where  mistakes  are  likely  to  occur.  We 
are  not  trying  to  master  the  whole  science  of  grammar. 


INTRODUCTION  xv 


We  select  and  apply  those  principles  that  teach  us  the 
* '  what ' '  and  the  '  *  why ' '  of  simple  correctness. 

Mistakes  and  the  chances  for  mistakes  occur  almost  ex- 
clusively in  connection  with  one  of  the  three  fundamental 
principles  of  grammar.    These  three  principles  are — 

Inflection 

Agreement 

Government 

Exercise — A  quiz  on  the  Introduction 

1.  What  is  good  English? 

2.  Name  the  four  fundamental  qualities  of  style. 

3.  Which  two  are  absolutely  essential  to  all  writing? 

4.  Which  other  are  we  likely  to  add  in  business  writing? 

5.  Point  out  some  of  the  practical  values  of  correctness  and 
clearness. 

6.  Give  two  reasons  why  it  is  best  to  approach  business  English 
on  the  side  of  the  standard  qualities  of  style. 

7.  What  can  you  say  about  "academic"  correctness? 

8.  What  is  the  real  difference  between  literary  writing  and  busi- 
ness writing? 

9.  Name  the  three  aspects  of  correctness. 

10.  What  are  the  three  principles  of  grammar  that  concern  correct 
usage? 


CHAPTER  I 

GSAMMATICAL  COEEECTNESS 

INFLECTION 

Inflection  is  the  word  used  to  name  those  changes  of  form 
that  words  undergo  to  express  some  change  of  meaning,  or 
to  show  their  uses  in  the  sentence  or  their  relation  to  other 
words.  The  parts  of  speech  that  show  inflection  are  nouns, 
pronouns,  adjectives,  adverbs,  and  verbs. 

1.  The  inflection  of  nouns  and  pronouns. — The  ar- 
rangement of  nouns  and  pronouns  to  show  their  inflection 
is  called  declension.  It  shows  whatever  changes  of  form 
they  undergo  to  indicate  the  two  numbers,  singular  and 
plural ;  and  the  three  cases,  nominative,  possessive,  and  ob- 
jective.   The  following  are  typical  declensions : 

NOUN 


Singular 

Plural 

■  K^  ^  ^  ^"^-^ 

*^Nom. 

boy 

boys 

_Poss, 

boy's 

boys' 

^Ohj. 

boy 

boys 

« ^  w>.«^.»'«^  -*^  "^ 

PERSONAL   PRONOUNS 

Nom. 
Poss.    i 

I 

-^  ,  my 

we 
our 

ohj.  ; 

C  ^^y  me 

us 

Nom. 

he,  she,  it 

they 

Poss. 

his,  her,  its 

their 

Ohj. 

/  ^tjT:   him,  her,  it 

RELATIVE  PRONOUN 

them 

Nom. 

who 

who 

Poss. 

whose 

whose 

Ohj. 

(^t^  ;  whom 
1 

whom 

2.    ^  ■  ;    .  ;  SSS;F*NT:^ALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


When  you  look  at  these  words  you  see  that  the  noun  has 
only  two  changes  or  inflections — one  for  the  possessive  case 
and  one  for  the  plural  number. 

These,  then,  are  the  troublesome  points,  and  it  is  at  these 
points  that  we  find  mistakes  commonly  made. 

I.  The  Possessive  Case — 

Exercise  1 
Study  the  possessive  forms  in  the  following  sentences. 
Make  a  new  sentence  containing  each  of  them : 

1.  The  hoy^s  face  quickly  changed. 

2.  The  boys*  faces  were  brown  with  tan. 

3.  The  secretary's  report  was  approved. 

4.  The  secretaries'  reports  are  all  on  file. 

5.  This  student 's  paper  is  scrupulously  neat. 

6.  These  students'  papers  are  carelessly  done. 

7.  A  man's  overcoat  was  left  in  the  car. 

8.  Those  men's  overcoats  were  sold  below  cost. 

9.  I  found  a  pair  of  woman 's  gloves. 
10.  The  stock  of  women's  gloves  is  low. 

II.  Mr,  Adams's  address  has  been  lost. 

12.  Your  watch  has  lost  its  second  hand. 

13.  The  chauffeur  killed  his  engine. 

14.  The  mistake  was  Tiers. 

15.  The  responsibility  was  theirs — ^but  the  credit  was  his. 

16.  The  woman  whose  gloves  you  found  is  here. 

17.  The  Emperor  of  Germany's  visit  to  England  was  timely. 

18.  The  American  National  Advertising  Association's  meeting  took 
place  in  Chicago. 

19.  Earl  and  Wilson's  collars  are  standard. 

20.  My  som-in-law's  plans  are  not  announced. 

21.  I  have  taken  somebody  else's  hat. 

When  you  study  the  foregoing  exercise  you  will  gather 
these  facts: 

1.  All  nouns  in  the  singular  form  the  possessive  case 
by  adding  the  apostrophe  (')  and  s:  hoy's,  man's. 

2.  All  nouns  that  have  added  an  s  or  an  es  to  form 


INFLECTION 


their  plural  add  only  the  apostrophe  to  form  the  plural 
possessive:  secretaries^  students'. 

3.  All  nouns  that  form  their  plural  in  some  other  way 
add  the  apostrophe  and  s:  men's,  women's. 

4.  Pronouns  do  not  use  aji  apostrophe  in  any  possessive : 
his,  its^  hers,  theirs. 

Note. — A  special  warning  is  needed  here  for  its.  You  will  some- 
times see  the  form  it 's.  But  it  is  a  contraction  for  it  is,  never  properly 
the  possessive. 

5.  When  the  noun  is  a  compound  or  consists  of  a  group 
of  words,  add  the  apostrophe  and  s  at  the  end  of  the 
group:  son-in-law's.  Emperor  of  Germany's,  Earl  and 
Wilson's. 

When  the  noun  is  a  large  group  of  words  it  is  better  not 
to  form  the  possessive  with  s.  Write  ''the  meeting  of 
the  American  National  Advertising  Association." 

Exercise  2 

Write  sentences  containing  the  possessives,  singular  and 
plural,  of  the  following  nouns.  Take  pains  to  write  a  good 
complete  sentence  in  each  case  : 


lady 

postman 

he 

the  mayor  of  New  York 

nominee 

hero 

she 

the  Governor-General  of  Canada 

soldier 

child 

it 

who 

anybody 

anybody  else 

they 

The  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals 

The  possessive  with  the  verbal  noun  is  a  weak  point  with 
many  fairly  good  writers.  A  verbal  noun  is  the  name  of  an 
action;  here  are  some: 

Seeing  is  "believing. 
Teaching  is  an  interesting  profession. 

Hearing,  seeing,  feeling,  smelling,  tasting — these  are  the  activities 
of  our  senses. 


ESSENTIALS  OP  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


/ 


When  the  noun  or  pronoun  naming  the  person  acting  is 
used  with  one  of  these  verbal  nouns,  it  is  put  in  the  pos 
sessive;  as, 

1.  The  house  was  old,  but  we  did  not  think  of  its  burning. 

2.  I  do  not  object  to  Olson's  helping  you. 

3.  They  are  perfectly  satisfied  with  Mr.  Paul's  teaching. 

4.  I  did  not  know  of  your  sailing  on  the  "Arabic." 

5.  Your  doing  anything  so  foolish  never  occurred  to  me. 

Exercise  3 
Correct  the  following : 

1.  Does  anyone  object  to  him  helping  me? 

2.  They  insist  on  every  student  doing  all  the  work. 

3.  Haven't  you  heard  of  him  going  around  the  world? 

4.  We  are  interested  in  him  inspecting  Chinese  schools. 

5.  We  did  not  dream  of  him  failing  in  examination. 

6.  Have  you  not  heard  of  him  being  killed  in  an  air-ship  accident  1 

2.  The  Plural  of  Nouns — 

There  are  a  few  pitfalls  in  this  inflection  that  we  must 
look  out  for. 

Exercise  4 
Study  the  following  list  of  words.    Construct  sentences 
^using  all  the  second  words  in  the  pairs : 

.>*  bill— bills  foot— feet 

check — checks  tooth — teeth 

hand — hands  man — men 

head — heads  datum — data 

sheet — sheets  phenomenon — phenomena 

address — addresses  radius — radii 

box — boxes  alumnus — alumni 

fish — fishes  forget-me-not — forget-me-nots 

wife — wives  spoonful — spoonfuls 

shelf — shelves  son-in-law — sons-in-law 

lady — ^ladies  hanger-on — hangers-on 

baby — babies  by-stander — ^bystanders 

potato — potatoes  Mr.  Bruce — Messrs.  Bruce 

hero — heroes  Miss  Lewis — Misses  Lewis 


INFLECTION 


A  study  of  this  list  will  show  the  following  usages  in 
plurals : 

1.  The  regular  way  to  form  a  plural  in  English  is  to  add 
an  s  to  the  singular :  hill — hills,  check — checks. 

2.  If  s  alone  will  not  unite  with  the  last  sound  of  the 
singular,  es  is  added :  hox — hoxes,  fish — fishes. 

3.  A  few  nouns  ending  in  the  sound  of  /  change  the 
/  into  V  before  the  plural  inflection  -es :  wife — wives,  shelf — 
shelves.    Some  such  nouns  form  a  regular  plural. 

4.  Nouns  ending  in  y  with  a  consonant  just  before  it 
change  the  y  into  i  before  the  -es:  lady — ladies, 
hahy — hahies. 

5.  A  few  nouns  that  end  in  o  add  an  e  before  the 
-s:  hero — heroes,  potato — potatoes.  Some  such  nouns 
form  a  regular  plural. 

6.  A  few  old  English  nouns  seem  quite  irregular  because 
they  keep  the  plurals  they  had  before  the  language  adopted 
the  rule  of  the  -s :  man — men,  tooth — teeth,  foot — feet. 

7.  Some  words  that  have  come  into  English  from  other 
languages  keep  the  plurals  they  have  in  those  languages: 
datum — data,  alumnus — alumni,  phenomenon — phenomena, 
radium — radii. 

8.  In  the  case  of  compound  nouns,  when  the  compound  is 
so  familiar  that  the  parts  are  not  thought  of  separately,  the 
-5  is  added  to  the  whole  compound:  forget-me-not — for- 
get-me-nots, spoonful — spoonfuls;  when  one  of  the  parts  is 
more  important  than  the  others,  add  the  -5  to  the  impor- 
tant part :  sons-in-law,  hy-standers,  hangers-on. 

9.  Compound  nouns  made  up  of  a  title  and  a  surname 
generally  give  the  plural  to  the  title :  the  Messrs.  Bruce, 
the  Misses  Lewis. 

Exercise  5 
Write  out  the  plurals  of  all  the  nouns  given  below.    Your 
dictionary  will  give  you  the  form  of  every  plural  that  is  not 


ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


f 


regular.  For  example,  under  tomato  you  will  find  the  note 
— pi.  -toes.  Cod  suit  your  dictionary  whenever  you  are  not 
quite  certain. 


desk 

half 

woman 

chair 

jury 

oasis 

wave 

ally 

thesis 

sash 

alley 

axis   ^ 

dish 

darkey 

brother-in-law 

tax 

buffalo 

passer-by 

tariff 

cargo 

trade-mark 

loaf 

piano 

foot-note 

thief 

solo 

tender-foot 

grief 

mouse  / 

cupful 

beUef 

2.  The    inflection    of    adjectives    and    adverbs. — The 

changes  of  form  that  these  words  undergo  is  called  com- 
parison. These  changes  show  the  relative  degree  or  measure 
of  the  quality  the  word  expresses.  Comparison  indicates 
three  grades : 

Positive  Comparative  Superlative 

great  greater  greatest 

careful  more  careful  most  careful 

late  later  latest 

effective  more  effective  most  effective 

fast  faster  fastest 

slowly  more  slowly  most  slowly 

effectively  more  effectively  most  effectively 

This  shows  you  the  regular  comparison,  which  is  the  same 
for  adjectives  and  adverbs.  To  words  of  one  syllable  add 
-er,  -est.  To  most  words  of  more  than  one  syllable  prefix 
more,  most. 

Some  adjectives  and  adverbs  are  irregular. 
For  example : 

good  better  best 

ill  worse  worst 

bad  worse  worst 


INFLECTION 


Note. — Your  dictionary  will  give  you  the  forms  of  irregular  com- 
parisons. For  instance,  under  well  you  will  find — compar,  better, 
superl.  best. 

1.  Mistakes  in  comparison  are  very  common  and  very- 
irritating.  Study  the  following  sentences  and  the  rules  and 
cautions  deduced  from  them : 

1.  This  is  the  larger  of  the  two  orders. 

2.  This  is  the  largest  order  we  have  received  today. 

3.  Of  the  two  machines  I  choose  the  cheaper. 

4.  He  had  three  machines  to  choose  from — he  chose  the  cheapest. 

5.  This  week  has  passed  more  slowly  than  last  week. 

6.  Of  all  the  days  of  the  week  Monday  seems  to  me  the  most  trying. 

7.  The  railroads  are  the  greatest  single  industry  in  the  United 
States,  next  to  agriculture. 

8.  Of  our  two  greatest  single  industries  agriculture  is  the  more 
important. 

You  will  notice  that  the  comparative  degree  is  used  when 
the  comparison  is  concerned  with  two  persons  or  things; 
when  there  are  more  than  two  the  superlative  is  used. 

2.  Study'the  comparisons  in  the  following  sentences: 

1.  Her  shoes  are  smaller  than  any  I  see  here. 

2.  These  shoes  are  smaller  than  any  others  she  has. 

3.  Our  class  has  a  larger  membership  than  any  club  in  town. 

4.  Our  club  has  a  larger  membership  than  any  other  in  town. 

You  see  that  you  use  the  comparative  with  any;  and  when 
the  things  compared  are  in  the  same  class  use  other  after 
any. 

Never,  never  use  combinations  like  smallest  of  any, 
largest  of  any. 

3.  Study  the  following  sentences : 

1.  Olson  is  the  most  promising  of  all  the  applicants. 

2.  Of  all  the  applications  we  have  received,  this  is  the  most  intelli- 
gent. 

3.  I  have  chosen  Olson's  report  for  publication  because  of  aU  those 
submitted  it  is  the  most  orderly. 


8  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

You  see  that  you  use  the  superlative  when  you  include 
the  whole  class  by  using  the  word  all. 

Exercise  6 

Study  the  following  sentences,  noting  the  comparatives 
and  superlatives.  They  are  all  correct.  Read  each  sentence 
aloud. 

1.  Texas  is  the  largest  state  in  the  Union. 

2.  Texas  is  larger  than  any  other  state  in  the  Union. 

3.  Texas  is  larger  than  any  New  England  state. 

4.  Of  all  the  states  in  the  Union  Texas  is  the  largest. 

5.  The  Post  is  the  most  trustworthy  of  the  evening  papers. 

6.  Of  all  the  evening  papers  the  Post  is  the  most  trustworthy. 

7.  The  Post  is  more  trustworthy  than  any  other  evening  paper. 

8.  The  Post  is  more  trustworthy  than  the  morning  papers. 

9.  Of  the  two  papers  the  Post  is  the  more  trustworthy. 

10.  Of  the  three  afternoon  papers  the  Post  is  the  most  trustworthy. 

11.  James  is  slower  than  any  other  of  the  boys. 

12.  James  is  the  slowest  boy  in  school. 

13.  As  between  James  and  George,  James  is  the  slower. 

14.  Car  manager  is  the  most  patient  person  in  the  office. 

15.  Our  manager  is  more  patient  than  any  one  else  in  the  office. 

16.  Your  largest  asset  is  your  faith  in  the  importance  of  your  busi- 
ness. 

17.  Of  all  your  assets  faith  in  the  importance  of  your  business  is  the 
largest. 

18.  Faith  in  the  importance  of  your  business  is  larger  than  any 
other  asset  you  have. 

Exercise  7 

Write  off  the  following  sentences,  choosing  the  correct 
form  in  each  case: 

1.  Which  is  the  older — oldest,  John  or  James? 

2.  Which  is  the  more — most  expensive,  a  Waterman  or  a  Swan 
fountain-pen  ? 

3.  Of  the  three  applicants,  Olson,  Bruce,  and  Lewis,  the  fir$t — 
former  is  the  most — more  promising.. 


INFLECTION 


4.  Of  the  two  applicants,  Olson  and  Bruce,  the  first — former  is  the 
vwre — most  promising. 

5.  Of  the  two  poisons,  arsenic  and  cyanide,  which  is  the  Trfore — 
most  deadly? 

6.  Of  the  .three  poisons,  arsenic,  strychnine,  and  cyanide,  which 
acts  more — mdst  quickly?  y 

7.  Of  two  evils,  choose  the  least — less. 

8.  Olson  is  the  older — oldest  of  tjie  three  applicants. 

9.  Miss  Lewis  is  the  elder — eld^t  of  a  family  of  five. 

10.  Is  t^ere  any  difference  in  your  hands?  Which  handles  the  pen 
more — most  skilfully? 

11.  Of  all  the  machines  we  have  tried,  the  Royal  works  most — more 
satisfactorily.  .  y 

12.  Of  the  many  places  opeo/co  you,  choose  the  more — most  honor- 
able rather  than  the  more — rmst  lucrative. 

13.  As  there  are  only  two  contestants,  the  prize  must  go  to  the  one 
or  the  other.    Choose  the  worthier — worthiest. 

14.  Of  the  three  factoj^in  the  production  of  wealth,  land,  labor, 
tools,  which  is  more — most  important? 

4.  There  are  some  adjectives  and  adverbs  that  can  not  be 
compared,  because  in  their  first  form  they  express  absolute 
quality.  For  example,  if  a  thing  is  empty,  it  can  not  be 
more  empty;  if  perfect j  it  can  not  be  more  perfect;  if  square, 
it  can  not  be  .more  square,  though  you  may  express  a  shade 
of  meaning  by  saying  more  nearly  perfect,  or  more  nearly 
square. 

The  following  are  other  adjectives  and  adverbs  that  can 
not  be  compared : 

absolutely  spotless 

conclusive  square 

dead  straight 

eternal  supreme 

faultless  universal 

full  worthless 

impossible  unique 

perfect  useless 
proper 


10  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

Exercise  8 

Every  one  of  these  sentences  contains  one  or  more  errors. 
Correct  them.  If  any  of  them  can  be  corrected  in  two 
ways  give  both.  ^ 

1.  The  use  of  the  telephone  is  becoming  more  universal  every  day. 

2.  Mexico  seems  to  have  the  most  unstable  government  of  any 
modern  state.  ,V 

3.  The  Balkan  war  was  more  absolutely js^arbaric  than  any  war  of 
modern  times. 

4.  If  he  wants  a  recommendation  from  us,  he  must  steer  a 
straighter  course  than  he  has. done  hitherto. 

5.  Of  all  other  cities  London  is  the  largest,  and  by  far  the  most 
interesting  jof  any. 

6.  Of  all  the  filing  systems  on  the  market  this  is  the  most  perfect. 

7.  A  more  absolutely  worthless  piece  of  property  I  do  not  know. 

8.  The  North  Western  trains  give  the  best  service  of  any  ^to  San 
Francisco. 

9.  To  call  on  the  proprietor  was  the  DaosI  proper  thing  to  do. 

10.  Of  the  two  reports  I  consider  Olson's  the  more  correct. 

11.  We  have  in  this  book  the  completest  summary  yet  given  of  the 
arguments  in  favor  of  socialism. 

3.  llie  inflection  of  verbs. — The  arrangement  of  the 
verb  to  show  the  changes  it  makes  to  express  changes  of 
meaning  and  its  relation  to  other  words,  is  called  conjuga- 
tion. 

It  is  rather  an  elaborate  thing  because  a  verb  changes  to 
show:  (1)  the  time  of  the  action — present,  past,  or  future; 
this  change  is  called  tense;  (2)  the  influence  of  its  sub- 
ject— a  verb  has  person  and  number;  (3)  the  certainty  or 
uncertainty,  definiteness  or  vagueness  of  an  action;  this 
change  is  called  mood. 

1.  In  order  to  discuss^  intelligently  the  mistakes  we  are 
liable  to  in  this  inflection,  we  will  study  the  partial  conjuga- 
tion of  the  two  typical  verbs  see  and  learn. 

1  The  discussion  is  limited  to  one  mood — the  indicative.  Uses 
of  the  English  subjunctive  lie  outside  the  scope  of  this  book. 


INFLECTION 

11 

PEESENT   TENSE 

Singular 

Plural 

I  see 

we  see 

you  see 

you  see 

he  sees 

they  see 

I  learn 

we  learn 

you  learn 

you  learn 

be  learns 

PAST 

TENSE 

they  learn 

I  saw 

we  saw 

you  saw 

you  saw 

he  saw 

they  saw 

I  learned 

we  learned 

you  learned 

you  learned 

he  learned 

they  learned 

FUTUEE  TENSE 

I  shall  see 

we  shall  see 

you  will  see 

you  will  see 

he  will  see 

they  will  see 

I  shall  learn 

we  shall  learn 

you  will  learn 

you  will  learn 

he  will  learn 

they  will  learn 

PRESENT-PERFECT  TENSE 

I  have  seen  we  have  seen 

you  have  seen  you  have  seen 

he  has  seen  they  have  seen 

I  have  learned  we  have  learned 

you  have  learned  you  have  learned 

he  has  learned  they  have  learned 


PAST-PERFECT   TENSE 


I  had  seen 
etc. 


FUTURE- PERFECT  TENSE 

I  shall  have  seen 
etc. 


If  you  study  this  partial  conjugation  carefully  you  will 
see  that  the  verb  see  appears  in  three  forms:    see  in  the 


12 


ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


present  tense,  saw  in  the  past,  and  seen  used  with  auxiliary- 
verbs  to  form  the  perfect  tenses. 

Learn  has  only  two  separate  forms — learn  for  the  present 
tense  and  learned  for  the  past,  and  it  uses  the  same  form, 
learned,  to  form  the  perfect  tenses.  These  three  forms  are 
the  present,  the  past,  and  the  past  participle;  they  are 
called  the  principal  parts  of  the  verb ;  and  it  is  in  the  use  of 
these  three  forms  that  most  mistakes  in  the  verb  occur. 

There  are  two  classes  of  verbs,  divided  according  to  the 
way  in  which  they  form  these  principal  parts : 

a)  The  regular  verb,  called  by  some  grammarians  the 
weak  verb  because  it  adds  an  outside  ending  to  form  its 
principal  parts.    Such  are : 

Present  Past  Past  Participle 

learn  learned  learned 

walk  walked  walked 

play  played  played 

sail  sailed  sailed 

help  helped  helped 

dive  dived  dived 

h)  The  irregular,  called  by  some  grammarians  the  strong 
verb  because  it  forms  its  past  and  past  participle  by  changes 
within  itself  without  calling  in  outside  aid.  Below  is  a 
partial  list  of  the  strong  verbs  with  their  principal  parts : 


Present 

Past 

Past  Participle 

awake 

awoke  or  awaked 

awaked 

begin 

began 

begun 

blow 

blew 

blown 

break 

broke 

broken 

bring 

brought 

brought 

burst 

burst 

burst 

catch 

caught 

caught 

come 

came 

come 

do 

did 

done 

drink 

drank 

drunk 

eat 

ate 

eaten 

INFLECTION 

13 

Present 

Pas* 

Pdst  Participle 

fly 

flew 

flown 

freeze 

froze 

frozen 

give 

gave 

given 

go 

went 

gone 

grow 

grew 

grown 

know 

knew 

known 

lay 

laid 

laid 

lie  (to  recline) 

lay 

lain 

ride 

rode 

ridden 

ring 

rang 

rung 

rise 

rose 

risen 

run 

ran 

run 

see 

saw 

seen 

set 

set 

set 

shake 

shook 

shaken 

show 

showed 

shown 

sing 

sang 

sung 

sink 

sank 

sunk 

sit 

sat 

sat 

spring 

sprang 

sprung 

steal 

stole 

stolen 

swim 

swam 

swum 

swing 

swung 

swung 

take 

took 

taken 

teach 

taught 

taught 

throw 

threw 

thrown 

wring 

wrung 

wrung 

write 

wrote 

written 

Your  dictionary  will  give  you  the  principal  parts  of  all 
strong  verbs. 

The  mistake  commonly  made  in  the  use  of  the  verb  is  the 
confusion  of  the  past  tense  with  the  past  participle.  Re- 
member that  it  is  the  past  participle  that  you  always  use 
with  have  or  had;  with  am,  is,  was,  have  been,  had  been, 
will  and  shall  have  been. 

Exercise  9 

Point  out  the  verb  in  each  of  the  following  sentences. 
Classify  it  as  strong  or  weak.  Give  the  principal  parts  of 
each. 


14  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

1.  I  drank  two  cupfuls  of  coffee. 

2.  I  have  drujnk  all  my  milk. 

3.  Mr.  Bruce  has  hired  a  new  office  boy. 

4.  He  has  taught  his  stenographer  to  use  the  dictagraph. 

5.  I  sang  in  the  choir  last  year.     I  have  sung  in  the  chorus  for 
many  years  but  my  friend  has  never  sung  before. 

6.  I  wrote  the  telephone  message  on  the  pad,  but  some  one  has  torn 
off  the  sheet  and  written  another  message. 

7.  After  the  wreck  many  passengers  swam  to  the  life  boats;  wo 
picked  up  one  man  who  had  swum  a  mile. 

8.  I  took  an  upper  berth — all  the  lowers  were  taken. 

9.  We  have  taken  passage  on  the    "Arabic,"    which  is  known  as  a 
very  comfortable  boat. 

10.  If  I  had  known  you  were  an  applicant  I  should  have  recom- 
mended you — ^but  I  did  not  know — only  Mr.  Bruce  knew  it. 

11.  When  the  doctor  examined  his  leg  he  found  that  it  was  broken. 
But  the  man  did  not  know  when  he  broke  it. 

Exercise  10 

Write  sentences  employing  both  the  past  tense  and  the 
past  participle  of  each  of  the  following  verbs : 


swing 

run 

give 

see 

ride 

grow 

fly 

rise 

go 

throw 

drive 

do 

2.  There  are  three  pairs  of  verbs  that  give  a  great  deal 
of  trouble — sometimes  to  fairly  good  writers.  And  indeed 
they  are  very  confusing.    They  are — 


Present 

a)     sit 

Past 

sat 

Past  Participle 
sat 

set 

b)     lie 

lay 

set 
lay 
laid 

set 

lain 

laid 

c)     rise 
raise 

rose 
raised 

risen 
raised 

One  of  the  verbs  in  each  of  these  pairs  has  to  have  an 
object  to  complete  it.  One  in  each  pair  does  not  take  an 
object.    We  will  arrange  them  on  that  principle. 


i:nj*'lection 

15 

These  need  objects: 

Present 

Past 

Past  Participle 

set 

set 

set 

lay 

laid 

laid 

raise 

raised 

raised 

1.  Please  set  the  machine  on  the  table. 

2.  The  watchman  has  set  the  alarm  for  six  o'clock. 

3.  Have  you  set  the  night-latch  ? 

4.  He  laid  down  his  pen  and  said,    "Lay    down  these  principles 
first." 

5.  He  laid  his  note-book  on  my  desk  and  forgot  it. 

6.  They  used  crude  oil  to  lay  the  dust. 

7.  I  fear  he  has  not  laid  by  anything  for  a  rainy  day. 

8.  The  factory  laid  off  a  hundred  men  yesterday. 

9.  I  laid  my  task  wearily  aside. 

10.  "We  easily  raised  the  fund  they  needed. 

11.  The  wreck  of  the    "Titanic"    can  never  be  raised. 

12.  We  raise  all  the  vegetables  we  can  use. 

13.  He  raised  the  window  and  watched  the  moon  as  it  rose  above  the 
trees. 

These  do  not  need  objects : 


sit 

sat 

eat 

Ue 

lay 

lain 

rise 

rose 

risen 

1.  He  sat  quietly  reading  during  the  excitement. 

2.  I  have  sat  in  the  waiting-room  all  morning. 

3.  I  sit  by  Olson  every  morning  in  the  car. 

4.  I  have  sat  by  Olson  every  morning  for  six  months. 

5.  Will  you  sit  down? 

6.  I  am  so  fatigued  that  I  shall  lie  down. 

7.  I  was  so  weary  that  I  lay  almost  unconscious. 

8.  The  boat  lay  at  the  third  pier  all  day  yesterday. 

9.  The  boys  lay  perfectly  still  and  watched. 

10.  These  goods  have  lain  on  the  shelf  too  long. 

11.  He  is  sure  to  rise  in  his  position. 

12.  The  sun  rose  this  morning  at  six  precisely. 

13.  The  water  has  risen  six  inches  during  the  night. 

^  The  sun  sets  is  a  special  use  of  the  verb  set. 


IQ  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

There  seems  to  be  confusion  .in  some  minds  between  let 
and  leave,  giving  rise  to  such  stupid  blunders  as 
"leave  it  be"  for  "let  it  be" 
"leave  him  lie"  for  "let  him  lie." 

Exercise  11 
Write  off  the  sentences  in  the  following  exercise,  choosing 
the  correct  word  in  each : 

1.  Have  you  ever  ridden — rode  a  motorcycle? 

2.  Their  agent  has  gone — went  to  Chicago. 

3.  When  he  got  home  he  found  his  ears  were  froze — frozen. 

4.  He  had  drove — driven  very  rapidly. 

5.  When  the  water  rises — raises  in  the  lock  it  rises — raises  the  boat. 

6.  When  the  bell  rang — rung  the  children  all   came — come  run- 
ning in. 

7.  We  hegan — tegun  yesterday  to  take  an  invoice. 

8.  The  civil  service  examinations  have  begun — hegan. 

9.  The  bookkeeper  has  set — sat  his  watch  by  mine. 

10.  The  officer  concluded  to  let — leave  the  rubbish  lie  in  the  alley. 

11.  When  I  lay — laid  down  I  did  not  expect  to  sleep. 

12.  I  have  sat — set  at  this  window  many  evenings  to  watch  the 
sunset. 

13.  Was  he  toolc — taTcen  ill  suddenly? 

1 4.  She  will  sit — set  the  table  and  then  she  will  lie — lay  down. 

15.  She  will  lay — lie  the  cloth  and  then  she  will  sit — set  down. 

16.  The  river  will  have  rose — risen  sixteen  inches  in  two  hours. 

17.  Never  leave — let  the  pupils  be  unoccupied. 

18.  The  bread  will  rise — raise  in  two  hours. 

3.  The  use  of  shall  and  iaM. — If  we  went  into  all  the 
refinements  of  the  uses  of  these  two  words,  it  might  seem  a 
complicated  matter.  But  for  practical  purposes  it  is  rather 
simple.  Study  the  following  examples  presenting  the  future 
and  the  future  perfect  tenses  of  call : 

I  shall  call  we  shall  call 

you  will  call  you  will  call 

he  will  call  they  will  call 

I  shall  have  called  we  shall  have  called 

you  will  have  called  you  will  have  called 

he  will  have  called  they  will  have  called 


INFLECTION  17 


a)  You  will  notice  that  the  first  persons,  I  and  we,  use 
sliall,  while  the  other  persons  use  will.  This  is  the  case 
when  you  express  simple  future  action. 

h)  Now  when  you  want  to  express  determination  or  make 
a  promise,  you  reverse  this  usage  and  say  /  will  and  we  will, 
and  use  shall  for  the  other  persons. 

c)  In  questions  of  the  first  person  you  use  shall;  in  those 
of  the  second  and  third  persons  you  use  the  form  you  expect 
in  the  answer.    This  is  called  anticipating  the  answer. 

Note. — Should  and  ivould  in  ordinary  practical  usage  follow  the 
same  rules  as  shall  and  loill. 

Exercise  12 
The  following  sentences  illustrating  the  use  of  shall  and 
will  are  all  correct.  Study  them  with  care,  reading  each 
one  aloud  several  times.  Decide  in  each  case  what  is  ex- 
pressed, simple  futurity,  determination,  promise,  anticipa- 
tion of  answer. 

1.  I  shall  be  much  pleased  to  recommend  you. 

2.  Will  you  give  me  a  recommendation? 

3.  Shall  you  ask  Mr.  Olson  for  a  recommendation? 

4.  I  shall  make  arrangements  to  sail  on  the  "Arabic." 

5.  The  "Arabic"  will  sail  from  Boston  June  16. 

6.  I  shall  be  disappointed  if  they  do  not  come. 

7.  They  will  be  expecting  me. 

8.  He  shall  restore  what  he  has  taken  whether  he  will  or  no. 

9.  He  will  restore  whatever  he  has  taken.  I  have  great  confidence 
in  him. 

10.  Shall  George  bring  the  machine  around? 

11.  George,  will  you  bring  the  machine  around? 

12.  Won't  you  mail  my  letter? 

13.  Shall  you  answer  this  letter?  Yes,  I  shall.  I  will  write  it  at 
once  and  then  we  will  go. 

14.  Shall  you  prosecute  him?  I  shall;  he  shall  be  made  to  suffer 
for  his  dishonesty.  Will  you  not  change  your  mind?  No,  I  shan't. 
Do,  for  my  sake.     No,  I  won't. 


13  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

15.  Will    you    come  to  dinner  with,   usf    I    will,  with  pleasure. 

16.  Will  you  come  to  dinner  with  us  on  Tuesday?  I  am  sorry,  but 
I  shall  be  out  of  town.  On  Wednesday,  then?  Yes,  I  shall  be  happy 
to  come  on  Wednesday. 

NoTi. — There  is  a  stupid  mistake  that  one  often  hears — the  use  of 
the  present  after  hope,  as 

I  hope  he  makes  the  train. 

I  hope  he  gets  the  appointment. 

I  hope  I  find  the  address. 

Hope  necessarily  implies  futurity,  and  calls  for  the  future  tense. 
Say— 

I  hope  he  will  catch  the  train. 

I  hope  he  will  get  the  appointment. 

I  hope  I  shall  find  the  address. 

Exercise  13 
Write  fifteen  sentences  of  your  own — good,  interesting 
sentences,  illustrating  the  various  uses  of  shall  and  will. 


General  Exercises  in  Business  Composition 
the  paragraph  in  thinking  and  writing 
Study  the  following  letter: 

My  deab  Mr.  Harding: 

Are  you  willing  that  I  should  give  you  as  a  reference  in  ap- 
plying for  a  position  with  Holt  &  Eaton?  You  know  my  character 
and  my  abilities,  and  there  is  no  one  whose  good  word  I  would 
rather  have, 

I  am  making  a  change  because  I  feel  that  there  is  no  advancement 
for  me  in  the  place  I  am  in  now.  There  are  several  men  ahead  of  me 
in  the  line  of  promotion,  and  I  should  like  to  get  on  a  little  faster. 
The  position  with  Holt  &  Eaton  seems  to  offer  just  the  chance  I 
want. 

I  shall  be  very  grateful  for  your  help  in  this  matter  and  shall  try 
to  deserve  whatever  recommendation  you  may  give  me. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Amos  Wells. 

You  will  notice  that  this  letter  falls  into  three  sections, 
each  of  which  handles  a  phase  of  the  matter  discussed  in 
the  letter: 

1.  Asks  permission  to  use  his  friend  as  a  reference. 

2.  Explains  why  he  needs  a  reference. 

3.  Expresses  gratitude  for  a  possible  favor. 

You  will  find  as  a  matter  of  fact  that  you  can't  follow 
any  train  of  thought  without  seeing  that  it  goes  in  steps 
or  stages.  If  you  reason  with  a  friend  you  find  yourself 
saying,  ''In  the  first  place,''  **In  the  second  place,"  and 
so  on  until  you  have  given  all  your  reasons.  If  you  write  a 
letter  that  is  more  than  a  brief  note  you  find  yourself  tak- 
ing up  one  item,  then  the  next,  and  the  next,  until  you 
have  treated  them  all. 

19 


20  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


These  steps  or  stages  or  items  are  paragraphs.  They  are 
little  letters  within  your  letter.  Each  one  says  all  that  you 
would  say  if  you  were  handling  that  item  alone. 

We  may  say  that  an  argument  or  a  letter  really  consists 
of  paragraphs  properly  joined  together.  We  may  call  the 
paragraph  the  unit  of  thinking.  We  may  say  that  if  you 
can  think  and  write  good  paragraphs  you  have  mastered 
the  art  of  writing;  and  these  statements,  barring  a  cer- 
tain allowable  exaggeration,  are  all  true. 

Of  course  a  letter  or  a  statement  may  be  so  brief  and 
unified  as  to  take  only  one  paragraph. 

In  writing  or  printing,  the  paragraph  is  indicated  by 
indenting,  i.  e.,  setting  in  the  first  word  a  space  from  the 
regular  margin. 

Exercise  14 

1.  You  are  writing  to  a  friend  your  reasons  for  taking  a 
course  in  business  English.     You  have  these  two  reasons : 

a)    You  desire  in  general  to  speak  and  write  correctly. 

h)  You  hope  to  become  an  advertising  manager,  a  sales- 
man in  a  mail-order  business,  a  commercial  correspondent, 
or  a  stenographer. 

Having  selected  one  of  these  positions,  write  the  two 
paragraphs  in  the  letter. 

2.  Give  an  oral  report  occupying  three  minutes,  on  the 
fruit  in  market  on  the  day  of  your  recitation.  Make  two 
items : 

a)  The  various  fruits  to  be  had. 
h)  The  prices. 


CHAPTER  II 

GEAMMATICAL  COKEECTNESS 
AGREEMENT 

One  of  the  prettiest  things  in  the  whole  science  of  gram- 
mar is  the  principle  of  agreement.  It  sometimes  seems  as  if 
words  were  living,  thinking  things,  trying  to  accommodate 
themselves  to  one  another  in  a  sentence;  as  if  they  had 
memories  and  a  sense  of  duty  that  compelled  them  to  take 
this  form  or  that  form  because  of  something  that  went 
before  or  something  to  come  after.  Other  languages,  Ger- 
man and  Italian,  for  instance,  have  very  complex  systems 
of  agreement ;  English  has  a  very  simple  system.  Indeed, 
you  could  not  call  it  a  system  at  all.  We  have  merely 
certain  usages  that  are  invariable  and  therefore  important 
for  us  to  know.  Under  agreement  as  under  inflection, 
we  will  study  those  instances  where  we  are  liable  to  mis- 
takes. ^ 

1.  Agreement  of  verb  and.  subject. — 1.  The  central 
and  most  important  rule  of  agreement,  and  the  one  most 
frequently  broken,  is  that  the  verb  must  agree  with  its 
subject  in  person  and  number. 

Examine  these  forms: 

Singular  Plural 

1st  Per.  I  do  I  am  we  do  we  are 

2d    Per.  you  do  you  are  you  do  you  are 

3d    Per.  he    does  he   is  they  do  they  are 

You  will  see  that  the  form  of  the  verb  changes  for  the 
third  person  singular ;  you  say  I  do,  but  he  does.    It  changes 

21 


22  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

for  the  plural  number;  we  say  he  does,  but  they  do.  It 
follows  that  we  can  not  say  he  don't,  since  don't  is  the 
contraction  of  do  not;  we  must  say  he  doesn't. 

The  form  ain't  is  a  contraction  of  am  not;  consequently 
it  was  never  correct  to  use  it  in  any  but  the  first  person. 
Present-day  authorities  condemn  the  form  I  ain't.  Substi- 
tute I'm  not. 

The  sentences  in  the  following  exercise  illustrate  the 
agreement  of  the  verb  with  its  subject.  The  subjects  and 
verbs  are  indicated  by  italics.  Read  these  aloud  several 
times : 

1.  I  am  surprised. 

2.  You  are  very  late  this  morning. 

3.  He  is  unsuccessful  in  business. 

4.  They  are  sending  out  their  new  circulars. 

5.  She  has  lately  ieen  promoted. 

6.  He  doesn't  Jcnow  that  the  shops  are  all  closed. 

7.  Every  thing  that  he  does  is  well  done. 

8.  Your  subscription  expires  with  this  issue. 

9.  In  every  kind  of  retail  trade  the  customers  insist  on  quick 
delivery. 

10.  Our  customer,  in  spite  of  all  the  evidence  to  the  contrary,  insists 
that  he  has  paid  his  bill. 

11.  The  agent  who  called  every  day  for  several  days  to  see  you 
about  buying  those  bonds  wants  to  speak  with  you  now. 

12.  The  cause  of  all  his  troubles  with  the  workmen  is  his  constant 
demand  for  greater  speed. 

Mistakes  often  occur  in  long  sentences  like  this  last  one 
in  whicii  other  nouns — it  may  be  some  singular  and  some 
plural — come  between  the  verb  and  its  subject.  Be  cau- 
tious when  you  have  such  a  subject. 

2.  Study  the  following  sentences : 

1.  The  cashier  and  the  teller  have  gone. 

2.  The  skipper,  the  mate,  and  the  cook  are  all  on  board. 

3.  My  old  friend  and  schoolmate  is  in  town. 


AGREEMENT  23 


4.  The  Secretary  and  Treasurer  keeps  the  books  in  his  possession. 

5.  My  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend  has  deserted  me. 

You  will  notice  that  the  subject  may  consist  of  two  or 
more  nouns  joined  by  and.  When  these  nouns  name  dif- 
ferent persons  the  verb  is  plural ;  when  they  name  one  and 
the  same  person  (as  in  3,  4,  and  5)  the  verb  is  singular. 

When  the  two  words  name  one  product  or  customary 
combination  the  verb  is  singular. 

1.  Victuals  and  drink  was  the  chief  of  her  diet. 

2.  Bread  and  milk  seems  to  agree  with  the  patient. 

3.  Ham  and  eggs  was  his  regular  order  for  breakfast. 

4.  Bread  and  butter  tastes  good  when  you  are  hungry. 

3.  When  two  or  more  singular  nouns  forming  the  subject 
are  preceded  by  each,  every,  or  no,  the  verb  is  in  the 
singular : 

1.  Every  man,  woman,  and  child  on  board  was  saved. 

2.  Each  book  and  paper  is  put  in  its  place  every  night. 

3.  Every  subscriber  and  stockholder  has  a  right  to  know  the  facts. 

4.  When  two  nouns  of  the  subject  are  joined  by  neither 
.  .  .  nor  or  either  . .  ,  or  the  verb  is  singular  if  both  the  nouns 
are  singular.  If  one  of  the  nouns  is  plural  the  verb  must 
be  plural. 

1.  Neither  the  carpenter  nor  the  plumber  has  come. 

2.  Neither  the  paperhanger  nor  his  assistants  have  come. 

3.  Neither  the  first  statement  nor  the  second  is  satisfactory. 

4.  Neither  the  first  statement  nor  any  of  the  subsequent  ones  are 
satisfactory. 

5.  Either  the  doctor  or  the  nurse  is  to  blame  for  her  relapse. 

6.  Either  the  doctor  or  the  nurses  were  to  blame  for  her  relapse. 

5.  When  a  subject  connected  by  neither  .  .  .  nor  or  either 
, ,  .  or  consists  of  personal  pronouns  the  verb  agrees  with  the 
subject  nearest  it. 


24  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

1.  Either  he  or  I  am  wrong. 

2.  Neither  she  nor  /  do  it  well. 

3.  Neither  she  nor  they  do  it  well. 

Courtesy  and  custom  dictate  the  proper  arrangement  of 
the  personal  pronouns  when  they  are  of  different  persons. 
Study  this  carefully : 

In  the  singular  the  second  person  comes  first,  the  third 
person  second,  the  first  person  last.  In  the  plural  the  first 
person  first,  the  second  person  second,  the  third  person  last. 
The  examples  will  make  this  plain : 

1.  It  is  agreed  that  either  you  or  I  am  to  go. 

2.  Neither  you  nor  he  is  expected. 

3.  Neither  he  nor  I  shall  have  time  to  stop  over. 

4.  We  and  they  have  long  been  competitors. 

5.  We  and  you  will  probably  have  to  stay  late  tonight. 

6.  We,  you,  and  they  must  share  the  expense. 

6.  Collective  nouns.  Study  these  sentences — they  are  all 
correct : 

1.  The  crowd  is  much  excited. 

2.  The  crowd  are  all  shouting. 

3.  The  firm  is  increasing  its  business. 

4.  The  firm  are  consulting  about  Olson's  promotion. 

5.  The  audience  was  enthusiastic. 

6.  The  audience  were  scattering  in  every  direction. 

You  see  that  a  collective  noun  takes  either  a  singular  or 
a  plural  verb,  according  to  the  sense  in  which  it  is  used. 
When  the  oneness  of  the  collection  is  important  or  em- 
phatic the  singular  verb  is  used.  When  the  persons  or 
things  that  make  up  the  collection  are  important  or  em- 
phatic use  the  plural  verb. 

7.  The  nouns  number,  half,  rerrminder,  rest,  etc.,  take 
a  singular  or  plural  verb  according  as  they  refer  to  one 
whole  or  to  the  several  members  of  a  group. 


AGREEMENT  25 


1.  The  number  of  trials  is  limited. 

2.  The  number  of  cases  of  diphtheria  grows  less  every  year. 

3.  A  number  of  students  have  already  obtained  positions. 

4.  Half  of  my  orange  was  bad. 

5.  Half  of  the  oranges  were  bad. 

6.  The  upper  half  of  the  window  was  dark. 

7.  JJaZ/  of  the  windows  were  dark. 

8.  The  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  at  my  desk. 

9.  The  rest  of  the  goods  were  badly  damaged. 

8.  Certain  nouns  have  a   plural  form  but  a  singular 
meaning  and  always  take  a  singular  verb.    Such  are — 

acoustics  gallows  molasses 

civics  mathematics  news 

ethics  means    (instrument)  optics 

1.  Mathematics  is  my  favorite  study. 

2.  Optics  is  an  interesting  branch  of  physics. 

9.  There  is  another  group  of  nouns  that  are  always 
plural  and  require  a  plural  verb.    Such  are — 


alms 

eaves 

riches 

ashes 

goods 

scissors 

shears 

manners 

thanks 

breeches 

means  (income) 

tidings 

cattle 

oats 

tongs 

clothes 

proceeds 

wages 

1.  Ashes  have  been  sprinkled  on  the  pavement. 

2.  Manners  make  the  man. 

3.  Riches  take  wings. 

Exercise  1 

Write  sentences  using  the  following  words  and  phrases 
as  subjects : 

cattle  means  (1) 

civics  means   (2) 

shears  mechanics 

herd  mob 


26  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

strawberries  and  cream 

each  and  every  member  of  the  ofl&ce  force 

each  member  of  the  boards  of  trustees  and  directors 

neither  he  nor  I 

both  we  and  they 

Exercise  2 

Write  off  the  sentences  of  this  exercise,  choosing  the 
correct  verb : 

1.  The  sheep  is — are  grazing  in  the  pasture. 

2.  Ethics  is — are  a  branch  of  philosophy. 

3.  The  means  is — are  not  always  justified  by  the  end. 

4.  His  means  are — is  limited. 

5.  Fifty  dollars  is — are  a  large  sum  to  lose. 

6.  He  doesn't — don't  know  the  difference  between  good  business 
and  bad. 

7.  It  don't — doesn't  take  an  expert  long  to  find  the  weak  spot. 

8.  Either  the  weather  or  his  anxiety  have — Jms  depressed  him. 

9.  The  line  of  motors,  carriages,  trucks,  and  omnibuses  move — 
moves  steadily  down  the  street. 

2.  Agreement  of  the  adjective  with  its  noun. — The 

only  English  adjectives  that  change  their  form  to  show 
agreement  are  this  and  that.  They  take  a  plural  form  to 
agree  with  a  plural  noun:  This  certificate — these  certifi- 
cates; that  parcel — those  parcels. 

Study  these  sentences : 

1.  This  sort  of  envelopes  is  best  for  our  business. 

2.  That  kind  of  clips  suits  me  best. 

3.  These  kinds  of  devices  never  work  well. 

4.  Those  kinds  of  machines  are  not  popular. 

Avoid  the  common  and  annoying  mistake — these  kind, 
those  sort. 

3.  Agreement  of  a  pronoun  with  its  antecedent. — 

1.  James  said  he  would  bring  up  the  mail. 

2.  Miss  Lewis  found  that  she  had  herself  copied  the  letter. 


AGEEEMENT  27 


3.  The  student  who  is  responsible  for  locking  up  is  gone. 

4.  The  students  who  are  responsible  for  closing  the  oflice  are  gone. 

1.  The  rule  of  agreement  is  that  the  pronoun  must  agree 
in  person,  gender,  and  number  with  its  antecedent — ^the 
noun  that  it  stands  for. 

This  is  easy  to  see  and  to  show  in  the  personal  pronouns 
which  change  their  form  to  indicate  person  and  number 
and  in  the  singular  to  indicate  gender:  hey  she,  it,  I,  we, 
you,  etc. 

The  relative  pronouns,  who,  which,  and  what,  do  not 
change  their  form  to  show  even  number.  But  the  verb  used 
with  them  will  generally  show  their  correct  agreement  in 
person  and  number. 

1.  It  is  I  who  am  late. 

2.  It  is  he  who  receives  advancement. 

2.  Study  these  sentences : 

1.  The  foreman  and  his  assistant  have  lost  their  places. 

2.  Either  the  foreman  or  his  assistant  has  lost  his  place. 

3.  Neither  the  foreman  nor  his  assistants  have  lost  their  places. 

You  will  see  that  when  a  pronoun  stands  for  two  ante- 
cedents connected  by  and,  the  pronoun  is  plural. 

"When  it  stands  for  two  antecedents  joined  by  either  .  .  . 
or  or  neither  .  .  .  twr,  the  pronoun  is  singular  if  both  ante- 
cedents are  singular. 

It  is  plural  if  one  or  both  antecedents  are  plural. 

3.  The  following  sentences  illustrate  the  pronoun  when 
the  antecedent  is  a  collective  noun : 

1.  The  firm  is  increasing  its  business. 

2.  The  firm  are  consulting  about  their  budget. 

3.  The  jury  promptly  rendered  its  verdict. 

4.  The  jury  were  much  divided  in  their  opinion. 


28  ESSENTIALS  OP  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

You  conclude  that  when  the  oneness  of  the  collection  is 
important  you  use  the  singular  pronoun.  When  the  indi- 
viduals are  considered  you  use  the  plural  pronoun. 

4.  When  a  singular  noun  of  common  gender  (this  means 
that  it  may  name  either  a  male  or  female  being)  is  the 
antecedent  of  a  pronoun,  it  is  customary  to  use  the  mascu- 
line pronoun.    For  example : 

1.  Every  student  should  prepare  his  paper  promptly. 

2.  Each  member  of  the  club  should  register  his  protest. 

3.  Every  member  of  the  class  may  claim  his  theme. 

In  certain  cases  either  the  feminine  or  masculine  pronoun 
is  indicated  by  other  details ;  as, 

1.  Each  member  of  the  Woman's  Club  registered  her  protest. 

2.  Every  member  of  the  Vassar  senior  class  contributed  her  share. 

5.  Anyone,  miyhody,  each,  everyone,  everybody,  either, 
neither,  somebody,  some  one  else,  etc.,  are  singular  and  must 
be  represented  by  a  singular  pronoun.    For  example : 

1.  Neither  of  them  has  paid  his  dues. 

2.  Somebody  has  forgotten  his  umbrella. 

3.  Each  of  us  should  pay  his  share  of  the  assessment. 

4.  Every  variety  of  business  has  its  advantages. 

5.  Has  anyone  else  lost  his  ticket? 

Exercise  3 

Write  off  the  following  sentences,  inserting  the  correct 
word  in  each  case : 

1.  Order  more  of  — kind  of  athletic  goods;  is  a  paying 

line. 

2.  No  man  or  woman  will  be  permitted  to  leave  desk  in 

disorder. 

3.  These  lessons  were  written  to  enable  every  student,  and  even 
every  reader  to  correct  own  mistakes. 

4.  This  book  should  equip  students  to  correct  own  mistakes. 


AGEEEMENT  29 


5.  Any  student  who  applies  the  knowledge  he  gains  will  find 

writing  free  from  ordinary  errors. 

6.  Neither  the  lesson  nor  the  exercises  yield  full  value  to  a 

careless  student. 

7.  Neither  party  is  eager  for  a  quarrel  and  will  make  any 

reasonable  adjustment. 

8.  In  case  you  return  the  goods,  you  will  oblige  us  by  sending 
the  original  paper  with  . 

9.  We  have  taken   great   pains  in  packing  the  case   of   mineral 
waters  and  the  other  goods  that may  reach  you  in  good  order. 

10.  Neither  the  goods  I  ordered  last  month  nor  the  machine  I 
bought  on  Monday  have  made appearance. 

11.  If  you  are  dissatisfied  either  with  the  tongs  or  the  shovel, 
return at  our  expense. 

12.  Make  a  note  of  any  violation  of  the  rules  and  regulations  that 
comes  under  your  observation  and  report to  the  manager. 


General  Exercises  in  Business  Composition 

FURTHER  practice  IN  PARAGRAPHING 

When  you  try  to  sell  a  product,  you  generally  have  two 
sides  to  your  task — ^you  must  tell  precisely  what  it  is  you 
have;  you  must  persuade  the  other  person  that  he  wants 
or  needs  it,  and  that  it  is  possible  or  easy  for  him  to  get  it. 
Sometimes  only  one  paragraph  is  necessary  for  both  pur- 
poses; you  may  happen  to  be  dealing  with  a  person  who 
already  wants  what  you  have  to  sell;  or  you  may  have 
goods  so  useful  and  necessary  that  you  have  only  to  de- 
scribe them. 

But  usually  you  need  to  use  both  these  processes — ^to  tell 
what  you  have ;  to  persuade  the  other  person  that  he  wants 
it.  It  may  take  many  paragraphs  for  each  of  these  processes. 
The  nature  of  your  commodity  may  be  very  elaborate,  and 
the  uses  of  it  very  numerous.  You  may  be  trying  to  sell 
it  to  a  very  large  and  mixed  circle  of  buyers,  so  that  you 
have  to  make  several  kinds  of  appeal. 

But  in  the  transactions  we  have  set  for  our  exercise,  we 
shall  assume  that  we  need  but  two  paragraphs  for  each 
transaction. 

1.  Write  two  paragraphs  of  a  letter  to  an  acquaintance 
offering  to  sell  him — 

a)  A  typewriter  you  have  used  for  a  year.  Describe  it. 
Set  a  price. 

b)  A  camera  that  you  have  had  only  a  few  weeks. 
Describe  it.    Ask  what  he  will  pay. 

2.  Make  a  five-minute  speech  on  this  outline: 
a)  It  is  not  enough  to  be  merely  good. 

h)  You  must  be  good  for  something. 

c)  You  must  be  good  for  some  one  thing. 

30 


CHAPTER  III 
GRAMMATICAL    CORRECTNESS 
GOVERNMENT 

The  third  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  grammar  is 
government.  So  far  as  practical  correctness  goes,,  the 
working  of  this  principle  is  quite  like  that  of  agreement; 
it  concerns  the  form  that  certain  words  take  in  connection 
with  other  words.  Like  agreement  it  is  a  sort  of  social 
relation  among  the  words  of  a  sentence.  In  actual  practice 
there  are  not  many  applications  of  this  principle,  since  it 
concerns  only  the  case  of  nouns  and  pronouns  when  they 
are  ''governed"  by  verbs  or  prepositions. 

1.  Government  by  verbs. — In  the  following  sentences 
the  nouns  and  pronouns  governed  by  verbs  are  italicized; 

1.  I  have  a  good  position. 

2.  The  messenger  has  brought  a  telegram. 

3.  Olson  is  not  in;  Mr.  Bruce  sent  him  to  the  library. 

4.  In  most  cases  nature  does  not  spontaneously  satisfy  our  wants. 

5.  This  fact  explains  all  human  activity. 

6.  Means  of  satisfying  wants  are  called  goods. 

7.  We  sent  him  a  cablegram  in  London. 

8.  They  have  sent  Mr.  Bruce  and  me  tickets  to  the  game. 

9.  It  is  the  sales-manager  whom  you  should  see. 

You  will  discover  that  in  practical  usage  the  working  of 
the  principle  of  government  is  a  simple  thing  as  concerns 
nouns,  since  they  have  no  change  of  form  for  the  objective 
case;  but  it  is  important  in  the  case  of  pronouns.  So  we 
deduce  the  first  law  of  government — nouns  and  pronouns 
that  are  the  objects  of  transitive  verbs  are  in  the  objective 
case. 

31 


32 


ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 


2.  Government  by  prepositions. — Prepositions  are  used 
to  show  the  practically  innumerable  relations  of  nouns 
and  pronouns  to  other  words  in  the  sentence.  These  prep- 
ositions are  said  to  ''govern"  these  nouns  and  pronouns, 
and  they  require  the  objective  case.  As  in  the  case  of 
government  by  verbs,  the  noun  makes  no  change  of  form. 
The  pronouns  are  important  for  study,  since  they  do 
change  their  form. 

1.  The  clerk  failed  to  report  to  us.  » 

2.  The  bills  were  sent  to  them  promptly. 

3.  Let  the  matter  remain  between  you  and  we. 

4.  No,  we  shall  have  to  consult  with  }ier  and  him. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  most  commonly  used  prep- 
ositions, all  governing  the  objective  case : 


about 

beneath 

of 

above 

beside 

on 

across 

between 

through 

after 

beyond 

to 

against 

but  (except) 

toward 

along 

by 

under 

among 

concerning 

until 

around 

except 

up 

at 

for 

upon 

before 

from 

with 

behind 

in 

within 

below 

into 

without 

Exercise  1 

In  the  following  sentences  point  out  the  verbs  and  prep- 
ositions that  govern  nouns  and  pronouns  and  the  nouns 
and  pronouns  governed  by  them.  All  the  sentences  are 
correct. 

1.  Let  us  face  the  facts  squarely. 

2.  Let  her  and  me  copy  all  the  letters. 

3.  You  should  elect  the  one  whom  you  are  sure  you  can  trust. 

4.  You  should  elect  the  one  who  will  prove  most  trustworthy. 


GOVERNMENT  33 


5.  Them  that  do  wrong,  I  will  punish. 

6.  They  that  did  wrong  should  be  punished. 

7.  Him  that  is  guilty,  the  law  should  punish. 

8.  He  that  is  guilty  should  be  punished  by  the  law. 

9.  Honor  to  whom  honor  is  due. 

10.  He  scolded  us  both — ^but  me  more  than  her. 

11.  I  do  not  think  it  is  he  to  whom  we  should  send  a  complaint. 

12.  Your  chance  for  promotion  depends  on  who  your  competitors 
are. 

13.  Your  chances  for  advancement  depend  on  whom  you  are  com- 
peting with. 

14.  Whom  should  I  meet  at  the  station  but  Mr.  Harding  whom  I 
had  not  seen  for  years! 

15.  How  should  you  like  to  go  with  us? 

With  you  and  him  ? 
No,  with  her  and  me. 
With  whom  else  could  I  go  ? 
With  whomever  you  found  going. 
16.    I  shall  give  the  book  to  whoever  asks  for  it. 

3.  Miscellaneous  cases  of  apparent  agreement  or  gov- 
ernment. — 1.  Than  and  as  are  not  prepositions  and  do  not 
govern  nouns  and  pronouns.  They  are  conjunctions  and 
join  subordinate  clauses  to  the  rest  of  the  sentence.  Usually 
the  verb  of  such  a  subordinate  clause  is  omitted,  since  it  is 
not  needed  for  the  sense. 

1.  She  is  as  tall  as  I  (am). 

2.  She  is  slower  than  he  (is). 

3.  He  has  a  larger  salary  than  I  (have). 

4.  Miss  Lewis  can  compute  faster  than  I   (can). 

5.  Mr.    Bruce   said   he   would   rather   send   me    than   him    (send 
him). 

6.  They   should  have  chosen  him  rather  than  me    (have  chosen 
me). 

7.  I  am  not  so  well  fitted  for  the  position  as  he  (is), 

2.  The  verb  he  is  not  a  transitive  verb  and  consequently 
does  not  govern  an  objective  case.    Notice : 


34  ESSENTIALS    OF   BUSINESS    ENGLISH 

1.  I  glanced  up  hastily  and  saw  that  it  was  he. 

2.  Hello,  Mr.  Bruce!     This  is  I— Olson. 

3.  It  was  not  they,  but  we,  who  discovered  the  mistakes  in  the 
entries. 

4.  Those  present  at  the  meeting  were  Harding,  Eaton,  Olson, 
and  I. 

Note. — There  is  a  feeling  that  me  is  more  emphatic  than  7.  You 
will  sometimes  find  used  in  a  half -humorous  way  a  combination  that 
first  respects  grammatical  correctness,  and  then  adds  the  emphasis 
of  the  wrong  word: 

It  is  I — me  that"  will  change  all  that. 

3.  The  verbs  of  the  senses — taste,  feel,  looh,  smell,  sound, 
like  the  verb  he,  express  state  of  being  rather  than  activity. 
Like  he  they  are  followed  by  adjectives,  not  by  adverbs. 

1.  The  cream  tastes  sour, 

2.  Those  wild  roses  by  the  wall  look  heautiful. 

3.  I  feel  unhappy  over  his  misfortune. 

4.  How  sweet  the  lilacs  smell! 

6.  Those  whistles  sounds  very  loud. 

ADVERBS  DISTINGUISHED  FROM  ADJECTIVES 

This  seems  to  be  a  good  place  to  insert  the  warning 
against  using  adjectives  when  you  need  adverbs.  Adjec- 
tives modify  nouns  and  pronouns,  and  they  follow  he  and 
such  other  verbs  as  express  state  of  being ;  adverbs  modify 
verbs  that  express  action,  adjectives,  and  other  adverbs. 

Right:  He  solved  the  problem  very  quickly. 

Wrong:  He  solved  the  problem  very  quick. 

Right:  She  set  the  table  promptly  and  neatly. 

Wrong:  She  set  the  table  neat  and  prompt. 

Right:  He  dictates  so  rapidly  that  I  can  not  follow  him. 

Wrong:  He  dictates  so  rapid  that  I  can  not  follow  him. 

Right:  They  are  offering  really  desirable  bargains. 

Wrong:  They  are  offering  real  desirable  bargains. 


General  Exercises  in  Business  Composition 

1.  Turn  to  Chapter  XII,  A,  and  study  rules  and  models 
for  the  heading,  address,  and  salutation  of  a  letter.  Using 
your  own  address  as  a  heading,  write  a  letter  to  the  firm  of 
Holt  &  Eaton,  118  N.  La  Salle  Street,  Chicago,  manufac- 
turers of  blank  books,  applying  for  a  position.  Write  four 
paragraphs : 

a)  Name  the  position  you  desire,  and  tell  how  you 
heard  of  the  opening. 

h)  State  your  qualifications — schooling,  experience,  age. 

c)  Give  your  references. 

d)  Ask  for  an  interview. 

2.  Compose  an  oral  report,  to  occupy  five  minutes,  on  the 
four  most  important  items  of  news  in  the  morning  paper  on 
the  day  you  make  your  recitation.  Do  not  write  out  the 
report;  do  not  memorize  the  words  of  the  reports  in  the 
paper. 


35 


CHAPTER  IV 
CORRECTNESS   IN   DICTION 

"When  we  master  the  principles  of  grammatical  cor- 
rectness, we  find  ourselves  a  long  way  on  the  road  to 
correct  speech.  But  there  still  remain  some  important 
problems  that  are  not  concerned  with  grammar.  You 
know  that  it  is  quite  possible  to  put  the  wrong  word  into 
correct  grammatical  form;  there  are  many  combinations 
of  words  which,  while  not  ungrammatical,  are  not  allowed 
by  custom  or  by  good  usage;  there  are  whole  classes  of 
words  that  every  cultivated  person  must  reject;  there  are 
pairs  of  words  that  call  for  discrimination  in  their  use — 
some  expressing  very  different  ideas,  but  for  some  reason 
confused,  some  expressing  delicate  shades  of  meaning,  the 
misuse  of  which  stamps  one  an  uneducated  person.  These 
are  the  problems  we  shall  consider  under  correct  choice 
of  words,  having  in  mind  all  the  while  that  we  are  look- 
ing toward  practical  rather  than  artistic  usage. 

1.  The  use  of  slang*. — It  would  be  folly  to  give  a  sweep- 
ing order  and  say,  "Never  use  slang."  A  young  person 
would  have  to  have  superhuman  will-power  to  associate  with 
his  mates  and  never  use  a  word  of  slang — indeed,  he  would 
have  to  be  a  bit  of  a  Pharisee,  besides. 

It  is  true  that  in  a  few  cases  the  slang  of  today  becomes 
the  accepted  usage  of  tomorrow;  that  this  is  one  of  the 
ways  in  which  our  wonderful  living  language  grows. 
It  is  curious  to  trace  some  of  these  reformed  slang  words. 
In  1740  Swift,  complaining  of  the  corruption  of  the  Eng- 
lish tongue,  condemned  as  instances  of  new  and  unpardon- 

36 


DICTION  37 


able  slang  the  words  banter,  moh,  sham,  and  others  which 
are  now  useful  and  respectable  words.  Dandy  has  twice 
been  slang — when  it  first  came  into  our  speech,  and  again, 
after  years  of  respectability,  when,  with  a  slight  change  of 
meaning,  it  became  slang  in  our  own  day.  Undoubtedly 
some  of  the  slang  invented  by  our  generation  will  pass  into 
permanent  use;  the  idiomatic  and  humorous  ''nothing  do- 
ing ' '  is  invaluable  and  deserves  to  survive. 

Unquestionably  some  slang  is  humorous,  even  witty ;  an 
occasional  slang  phrase,  when  used  by  a  person  who  does 
not  habitually  use  it,  is  picturesque  and  effective;  one 
might  find  himself  in  a  company  where  not  to  use  slang 
would  seem  stiff  and  ''superior."  But  none  of  these  con- 
siderations justify  the  habitual  and  unchecked  use  of 
slang. 

In  the  first  place,  by  far  the  larger  number  of  slang 
expressions  have  a  low  origin  and  a  low  meaning.  Most 
of  them  belong  to  the  argot  of  thieves  and  other  low 
people.  When  they  have  crept  up  into  better  company, 
they  still  have  the  marks  of  vulgarity  and  coarseness  on 
them. 

In  the  second  place,  slang  is  evanescent — the  day  of 
even  the  most  popular  slang  word  is  brief.  Who  now  says 
"cut  it  out,"  or  "talking  through  his  hat,"  or  "skiddoo," 
though  it  was  only  yesterday  that  one  or  another  of  these 
expressions  defaced  every  third  sentence  spoken  by  a  cer- 
tain type  of  young  person  ?  He  who  constantly  uses  slang 
adds  nothing  permanent  to  his  speech.  On  the  contrary, 
he  merely  substitutes  another  short-lived  phrase  for  one 
already  dead. 

In  the  third  place,  slang  is  monotonous  and  narrowing. 
By  narrowing  your  vocabulary  you  narrow  your  ideas. 
When  you  use  the  same  word  for  many  different  ideas  and 
objects,   your   conversation   becomes    intolerably   tiresome 


38  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

and  sounds  vulgar  to  any  experienced  person.  We  have 
all  met  in  the  last  few  years  young  persons  (and  some  not 
so  young)  whose  entire  vocabulary  seemed  to  consist  of 
four  or  five  words— *' dope, "  ''guy,"  ''peach,"  "beat  it," 
"bone-head,"  and  "going  some" — with  the  merely  color- 
less words  that  joined  them  together. 

This  is  very  uncultivated  and  very  crippling.  Such  a 
person  instinctively  feels  that  he  can  not  use  these  words 
when  he  speaks  or  writes  to  anyone  he  respects.  Conse- 
quently when  he  should  speak  well  he  is  dumb,  and  when 
he  would  write  he  has  no  words  for  the  things  he  would 
say.  I  am  convinced  that  this  subjection  to  slang,  and  the 
failure  of  slang  to  serve  on  a  really  important  occasion,  is 
the  explanation  of  the  bad  impression  made  by  many 
young  people  in  a  formal  business  interview,  or  in  a  piece 
of  writing.  They  know  better  than  to  use  slang — ^yet  they 
have  no  other  words  at  their  command. 

Exercise  1 

Make  a  list  of  the  slang  words  you  use  most  frequently, 
and  give  all  the  important  equivalents  for  them  in  proper 
English.    "Write  a  sentence  using  each  of  the  good  words. 

For  example  :    Dope — 

1.  Kindly  send  me  information  concerning  your  automobile. 

2.  I  have  the  material  for  developing  the  films. 

3.  I  have  all  the  lecture  notes  on  this  course. 

4.  He  was  under  the  influence  of  some  drug. 

5.  There  was  some  dishonesty  in  his  election. 

6.  Please  give  me  either  mayonnaise  or  French  dressing  on  my 
salad. 

7.  I  do  not  like  curry  in  my  sauce. 

8.  They  had  the  whole  affair  arranged. 

9.  I  have  all  the  facts  as  to  his  guilt. 

10.  I  have  sent  in  my  references  and  letters  of  recommendation. 

2.  The  use  of  over-worked  words. — Almost  as  bad  as 
slang  in  its  effect  and  quite  as  bad  in  its  influence,  is  the 


DICTION  39 


use  of  a  limited  number  of  words,  applying  them  to  any 
and  all  ideas  and  circumstances.  These  words  are  so  gen- 
eral as  to  be  practically  meaningless,  and  so  worn  and  stale 
as  to  be  absolutely  ineffectual.  This  is  a  fault  to  which 
business  writers  seem  peculiarly  liable.  The  words  given 
here  have  all  been  taken  from  the  business  magazines. 
One  of  them — proposition — was  used  in  this  loose  and 
meaningless  way  twenty-three  times  in  one  issue  of  an 
ambitious  business  periodical. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  such  over- worked  words: 


proposition 

deal 

individual 

Darty 

feature 

bunch 

ine 

factor 

crowd 

These  are  not  slang  words;  they  have  certain  legitimate 
meanings  and  should  be  used  when  they  carry  their  own 
definite  meaning.  But  you  should  sometimes  substi- 
tute for  them  the  words  they  seem  to  have  crowded  out, 
both  for  the  sake  of  variety  and  for  the  sake  of  correctness 
and  definiteness. 

1.  Proposition — 

Keep  in  mind  the  following  list  of  words  as  substitutes 
for  proposition: 


proposal 

transaction 

plan 

occurrence 

suggestion 

project 

offer 

proffer 

bargain 

affair 

concern 

matter 

sale 

purchase 

invention 

device 

statement 

2.  Line — 

Substitute  sometimes  for  this  word  grade,  quality,  vari- 
ety, class,  order,  kind,  sort.  Avoid  altogether  the  expres- 
sion line  of  talk.  For  the  phrase  along  that  line,  substitute 
sometimes  the  phrases  in  that  direction,  in  that  way,  on 


40  ESSENTIALS    OF   BUSINESS    ENGLISH 

that  subject.    Never  be  guilty  of  using  the  wearisome  old 
phrase  all  along  the  line. 

3.  Party— 

Never  use  this  word  for  a  person  unless  you  are  writing 
a  formal  legal  document,  where  you  say  "the  party  of  the 
first  part,"  or  "of  the  second  part,"  etc.  It  is  properly 
used  of  a  group  of  persons;  but  even  in  that  case  you 
should  sometimes  substitute  group,  company,  firm,  associa- 
tion, etc.,  according  to  your  more  definite  meaning. 

4.  Crowd — 

Never  use  this  word  when  you  mean  group,  party, 
friends,  club,  company,  audience,  or  any  other  assembly 
of  persons  other  than  a  large  throng. 

5.  Bunch — 

Never  use  this  word  as  applied  to  persons  at  all;  when 
so  used,  it  constitutes  a  bit  of  silly  and  stupid  slang. 

6.  Feature — 

Substitute  sometimes  aspect,  detail,  contrivance,  pecul- 
iarity, device,  element,  advantage,  etc.,  according  to  your 
closer  meaning. 

This  word  used  as  a  verb  seems  to  have  established  itself 
in  journalistic  and  business  practice.  Use  it  as  little  as  you 
can.  The  following  extract  from  a  college  daily  illustrates 
* '  featuring ' '  gone  to  seed : 

A  feature  story  on  the  trip  taken  by  the  Glee  Club  will  be  one  of 
the  features  of  the  Annual;  a  poem,  "The  Tower  Clock,"  will  also 
be  featured. 

7.  Deal— 

Sometimes  use  instead  operation,  trade,  negotiation,  busi- 
ness, arrangement,  sale,  purchase,  etc.,  etc. 

Is  it  too  much  to  ask  you  to  retire  permanently  a  square 
deal? 

8.  Factor — 

This  is  another  good  and  useful  word  that  has  had  more 
work  heaped  upon  it  than  it  should  be  expected  to  do.    It 


DICTION  41 


should  share  with  element,  ingredient,  part,  share,  force, 
power,  influence,  etc.,  according  to  the  shade  of  meaning 
involved. 

9.  Individual — 

Never  use  this  word  merely  instead  of  man  or  person. 
It  is  never  properly  used  as  a  noun,  except  when  the  single- 
ness or  the  separateness  of  the  person  is  emphasized. 

Exercise  2 

Write  sentences  of  your  own,  using  each  of  the  following 
words  in  its  proper  sense. 

1.  Proposition,  proposal,  offer,  transaction,   opportunity. 

2.  Line,  quality,  variety,  class. 

3.  Party,  group,  company,  person,  customer,  purchaser. 

4.  Feature,  aspect,  peculiarity,  element. 

5.  Deal,  negotiation,  operation,  proceedings. 

6.  Factor,  element,  ingredient,  influence. 

7.  Individual. 

Note. — Here  is  another  list  of  terms  that  are  in  danger  of  hav- 
ing their  edges  worn  off  in  the  friction  of  business  writing:  system, 
efficiency,   red    blood,   magnetic,   psychology,    optimist,    organization. 

3.  Hackneyed  phrases. — These  form  the  peculiar  beset- 
ment  of  the  young  journalist,  though  they  often  creep  into 
the  work  of  the  business  writer,  especially  when  he  tries 
to  be  literary.  The  following  lines  constitute  a  humorous 
summary  of  these  faded  and  by-gone  beauties.  The  lines 
are  by  an  anonymous  newspaper  writer,  and  are  repro- 
duced here  from  Brown  and  Barnes's  "The  Art  of  Writ- 
ing English." 

There  was  a  writer  and  he  learned 

The  art  "in  all  its  phases" 
Of  using  well-known  synonyms 

And  penning  hackneyed  phrases; 
"Conspicuous  by  his  absence"  was 

Another  stand-by  too; 


42  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

A  maiden  had  a  "willowy  form" 

And  hair  of  "golden  hue"; 
He  followed  on  "with  bated  breath" 

"So  near  and  yet  so  far"; 
*'An  eagle  glance,"  "magnetic  gaze," 

"The  moaning  of  the  bar"; 
"A  sight  to  make  the  angels  weep," 

"The  human  form  divine," 
"Dilating  nostrils,"  "flowing  locks," 

And  "all   the  muses  nine"; 
"The  inner  man,"  "last  but  not  least," 

"A  few  well-chosen  words," 
The  "mellow  moon"  and  "twinkling  stars," 

And  "little  twittering  birds," 
"Arch  smiles"  and  "lips  of  rosy  tint," 

A  "dainty  gloved  hand"; 
A  "succulent  bivalve"  of  course 

Was  always  in  demand. 
To  "philosophic  heights"  he'd  rise. 

Of  reason  "chew  the  cud," 
And  never  once  did  he  forget 

To  use  the  "sickening  thud." 


It  would  be  a  good  plan  to  forego  all  the  quoted  phrases 
and  all  others  so  familiar  and  so  meaningless. 

4.  Exaggerations. — Undue  exaggerations  make  a  bad 
impression,  and  defeat  their  own  ends.  The  use  of  superla- 
tives and  strong  words  for  any  trivial  idea  gives  a  hyster- 
ical atmosphere  to  speech  and  weakens  the  effect;  for  we 
soon  learn  to  discount  strong  words  where  all  words  are 
strong.  The  speech  of  cultivated  persons  shows  a  guarded 
use  of  the  strongest  words;  and  every  sincere  person  de- 
sires to  save  the  great  and  beautiful  words  for  great  and 
beautiful  things  and  feelings. 

Discard  completely  all  such  foolish  and  stupid  slang  ex- 
aggerations as  the  following: 

I  thought  I  should  die. 
It  nearly  killed  me. 
I  am  crazy  about  it. 


DICTION  43 


Try  to  do  without  the  words  simply ,  perfectly,  absolutely y 
positively,  etc.,  in  their  capacity  of  strengtheners  of  words 
already  sufficiently  strong.  Simply  grand,  perfectly  impos- 
sible, absolutely  disgraceful,  positively  insulting,  awfully 
monotonous — each  phrase  is  weaker  than  it  would  be  if  the 
modified  word  stood  alone.  If  you  feel  that  you  must 
intensify  in  some  way,  compromise  on  very  or  quite. 

The  list  of  ' '  intensifiers "  is  instructive — simply,  per- 
fectly, absolutely,  utterly,  awfully,  terribly,  fearfully,  hor- 
ribly, dreadfully,  tremendously,  immensely — there  is  some 
irony  in  the  fact  that  all  these,  which  ought  to  be  the  most 
imposing  words  in  our  language,  have  been  cheapened  to 
mere  counters  in  the  dialect  of  a  girls'  boarding-school. 

Except  in  humorous  passages  of  friendly  letters  and  in 
purely  literary  writing,  do  not  use  exaggeration  or  even 
the  figure  of  hyperbole.  In  conversation  an  occasional 
exaggeration  or  conscious  hyperbole  is  not  to  be  con- 
demned severely.  It  is  the  habitual  use  of  them  that  is 
fatal  to  good  style  and  to  safe  thinking. 

Exercise  3 

Study  the  words  in  the  following  groups  by  finding  their 
definitions  and  considering  their  values.  Use  two  words 
from  each  group  in  sentences  of  your  own,  giving  the  word 
its  true  value : 

1.  Lovely,  pretty,  beautiful,  handsome,  elegant. 

2.  Nice,  pleasant,  dainty,  fine,  charming,  attractive. 

3.  Awful,  terrible,  horrible,  dreadful,  fearful,  fierce. 

4.  Grand,  imposing,  splendid,  brilliant,  gorgeous. 

5.  Smart,  clever,  bright,  wise,  brilliant. 

6.  Amusing,  ludicrous,  humorous,  witty. 

7.  Hate,  dislike,  despise,  abhor,  detest,  loathe. 

5.  Pine  writing. — The  use  of  fine,  high-sounding,  or 
learned  words  instead  of  simple  ones  is  in  poor  taste  and 
generally  incorrect.    Even  when  it  is  done  with  a  deliber- 


44  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

ately  humorous  purpose,  it  seems  a  rather  cheap  form  of 
wit. 

You  should  not  hesitate  to  use  a  rare  or  learned  word 
when  it  exactly  expresses  your  thought;  but  do  not  sub- 
stitute fine  words  for  plain  ones,  other  things  being  equal. 
Do  not  say — 

reside  for  live 

retire  for  go  to  bed 

matutinal  ablutions  for  morning  hath 

erect  a  residence  for  build  a  house 

eminent  divine  for  well-known  clergyman  or  preacher 

.prominent  educator  for  teacher 

delicious  refreshments  for  sandwiches  and  coffee 

bountiful  repast  for  a  good  dinner 

sumptuous  banquet  for  a  plentiful  supper 

Avoid  also  false  refinements  such  as, ' '  They  built  a  beau- 
tiful home''  when  you  mean  house;  ''The  baby  came'' 
when  you  mean  was  horn. 

Observe  the  propriety  that  comes  of  common  sense  in 
the  use  of  gentleman  and  lady.  To  insist  on  saleslady  is 
as  sensible  as  it  would  be  to  call  the  man  on  the  engine 
the  fire  gentleman. 

6.  Vulgarisms. — Many  expressions  that  irritate  a  per- 
son of  taste  are  plain  vulgarisms  and  should  be  discarded. 
Such  are — 

date  for  engagement  or  appointment 

nohow 

female  for  woman 

alright  for  all  right  (The  use  of  this  form  should  be  made  a 
crime  punishable  by  automatic  electrocution.) 

go  some  place  for  go  somewhere 

go  places,  as  in  "She  likes  to  go  places  with  me." 

ways  for  way,  as  in  "a  long  ways  from  here" 

don't  know  as  for  don't  know  that 

nicely,  as  the  answer  to  the  question,  "How  are  you?" 

wants  in  the  sense  of  needs,  as  in  "a  salesman  wants  to  keep  his 
temper";  "You  want  to  use  two  c's  in  success." 


DICTION  45 


lady  friend 

gentleman  friend 

dove  as  the  past  of  dive 

7.  Too  many  words. — In  the  following  sentences  the 
italicized  words  are  unnecessary: 

1.  Where  are  you  atf 

2.  I  fell  off  of  the  car. 

3.  I  have  got  all  the  salesmen's  reports. 

4.  From  henceforth  Mr.  Bruce  will  handle  all  adjustments. 

5.  From  whence  would  such  an  impression  come? 

6.  I  got  a  seat  inside  of  the  car  on  the  Elevated. 

7.  I  stood  outside  of  the  theater  for  an  hour. 

8.  You  had  ought  to  see  the  new  linotype  at  work. 

Exercise  4 

There  are  one  or  more  unnecessary  words  in  each  of  the 
following  sentences.    Write  them  off  in  correct  form. 

1.  Where  are  you  living  at  now? 

2.  Where  are  you  going  to  next? 

3.  You  hadn't  ought  to  spell  Professor  with  two  f's. 

4.  Both  White  and  Brown  are  alike  good  accountants. 

5.  He  repeated  the  directions  over  and  over  again. 

6.  You  will  find  the  road-house  a  mile  from  hence. 

7.  He  will  move  his  mail-order  business  back  to  the  town  from 
whence  he  came. 

8.  The  reason  I  did  it  was  because  of  Mr.  Bruce 's  orders. 

9.  My  mind  often  reverts  back  to  the  early  years  of  the  enter- 
prise. 

10.  There  was  nothing  said  about  a  rebate  that  I  remember  of. 

11.  There  is  no  use  at  all  in  taking  so  much  pains  with  a  trivial 
matter. 

12.  He  has  been  all  the  summer  in  the  Canadian  Rockies. 

13.  The   telephone  girls   are   the   city's   real   watchmen,    keeping 
guard  all  the  night. 

14.  When  he  drove  up  we  all  smiled  at  his  queer  horse — a  black 
and  a  white  one. 

15.  What  kind  of  a  person  do  they  expect  to  get  at  that  salary? 

16.  What  kind  of  a  business  would  you  consider  most  interesting? 


46  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS    ENGLISH 

17.  Please  accept  of  this  bonus  as  a  token  of  our  appreciation. 

18.  He  returned  back  again  to  get  his  coat. 

19.  We  have  been  patient  with  him,  since  he  is  a  new  beginner. 

20.  You  will  find  the  drive  longer  than  you  think  for. 

21.  The  automobile  turned  the  corner  and  disappeared  from  my 
view. 

22.  The  little  lake  was  surrounaed  by  high  hills  on  all  sides. 

23-.  We  were  quite  powerless  and  unable  to  discover  the  reason 
for  the  shortage  in  our  accounts. 

24.  Olson  rushed  hurriedly  by  us  with  a  telegraph  blank  in  his 
hand. 

25.  The  dispatches  say  that  the  insurgent  army  was  totally 
annihilated. 

26.  Have  you  heard  that  the  little  town  of  Albion  was  entirely 
wiped  out  in  a  general  conflagration? 

27.  We  saw  two  officers  looking  out  of  the  window. 

28.  Before  giving  a  detailed  reply  we  must  consult  with  our 
counsel. 

29.  The  berth  opposite  to  us  was  occupied  by  a  man  ill  with 
tuberculosis. 

30.  We  will  explain  later  on  why  we  found  it  impossible  to 
accept  your  suggestion. 

31.  Our  seats  at  the  game  were  just  outside  of  the  reserved 
section. 

32.  Olson  is  late  because  he  stopped  to  collect  together  his  books 
and  papers. 

33.  Miss  Brant  is  a  skillful  expert  in  the  preparation  of  copy, 
but  she  has  found  this  manuscript  a  difficult  puzzle. 

8.  Too  few  words. — Study  the  following  sentences  and 
notice  that  the  italicized  words  are  necessary.  They  are 
often  erroneously  omitted. 

1.  Miss  Lewis  stayed  at  home  today. 

2.  I  shall  leave  for  my  vacation  on  the  first  of  July. 

3.  The  boat  was  so  leaky  that  we  had  to  give  up  our  sail. 

4.  The  order  was  so  vague  that  we  had  to  have  it  repeated. 

5.  We  are  very  much  pleased  with  the  itinerary  you  have  made 
out. 


DICTION  47 


6.  He  has  just  entered  College  and  will  later  enter  the  Univer- 
sity. 

7.  Nowadays  when  you  study  in  a  Business  College,  you  acquire 
a  liberal  education. 

8.  Both  the  secretary  and  the  treasurer  were  in  attendance. 

9.  He  drove  two  very  fast  horses — a  black  and  a  white. 

9.  Idiomatic  combinations  of  words. — ^We  mean  by  this 
certain  combinations  that  have  no  reason  for  being  except 
the  usage  of  the  language  they  belong  to;  they  can  not  be 
translated  into  any  other  language  and  are  therefore  diffi- 
cult to  students  of  foreign  birth  or  descent.  They  must 
be  mastered  and  remembered. 

1.  He  fell  into  the  water. 

2.  He  fell  in  love. 

3.  He  died  of  pneumonia  (not  with  or  from). 

4.  Divide  the  work  between  Mr.  Bruce  and  me. 

5.  Divide  the  work  among  the  whole  force. 

Note. — Use  hetween  where  there  are  two,  among  where  there  are 
more  than  two. 

6.  I  shall  complete  my  course  within  a  year  (not  inside  a  year), 

7.  He  cut  the  stick  in  two. 

8.  He  put  his  hat  upon  his  head  (not  on). 

9.  There  is  no  one  who  can  do  it  besides  me  (not  outside  of  me 
nor  outside  me,  unless  you  are  speaking  of  germs). 

10.  He  wants  to  get  hold  of  the  details   (not  a  hold  of). 

11.  We  gladly  accept  your  hospitality  (not  accept  of). 

12.  I  do  not  plan  any  change  in  my  work  (not  plan  on). 

13.  The  circular  deals  with  the  problems  of  correspondence  study 
(not  deals  on). 

14.  I  am  contemplating  a  change  of  employment  (not  contem- 
plate on). 

15.  I  shall  try  to  learn  touch  writing   (not  try  and). 

16.  Do  not  blame  me  for  the  mistake  (not  blame    .     .on). 

There  is  no  such  preposition  as  onto.  You  may  see  it 
even  in  print,  but  it  is  incorrect. 


48 


ESSENTIALS    OF    BUSINESS    ENGLISH 


There  should  be  no  such  prepositional  phrase  as  in  hack 
of;  say  behind.  You  sometimes  see  the  absurd  phrase 
would  of  instead  of  would  have,  in  such  phrases  as  would 
have  gone,  would  have  learned;  avoid  it. 

Study  the  following  combinations.  You  will  see  that 
certain  words  require  special  prepositions,  sometimes 
changing  the  preposition  to  express  a  change  in  use  or 
meaning : 

accompanied  with — when  one  thing  merely  goes  with  another, 
as    "fish    accompanied   with    egg-sauce." 

accompanied  by — as  a  companion.  *'He  walks  every  day  accom- 
panied by  his  dog," 

agree  to — a  proposal 

agree  upon — a  plan 

agree  with — a  person 

according  to 

in  accordance  with 

characteristic  of 

comply  with 

correspond  to — when  things  are  compared 

correspond  with — when  persons  exchange  letters 

compare  to — when  one  merely  likens  objects 

compare  with — when  one  measures  one  thing  by  another,  or 
points  out  differences  or  resemblances  in  detail 

conform  to 

convenient  to — a  person  or  a  place 

convenient  for — a  purpose 

different  from — not  than  or  to 

differ  from — when  one   thing  is  unlike  another 

differ  with — when  one  person  fails  to  agree  with  another. 

disappointed  in — what  we  have 

disappointed  of — what  we  do*  not  get;    never  with  in  any  case. 

else — than— ^not  else  hut 

other  than 

no  other  than 

another  than 

employed  at — a  given  salary 

employed  in,  on,  or  upon — a  job  or  a  business 

employed  for — a  purpose 


DICTION  49 


enter  upon — duties 

enter  in — a  record  or  report 

enter  at — a  door,  a  station,  etc. 

influence  upon  or  over — not  on 

inferior  to 

superior  to 

in  search  of — not  for 

insight  into 

identical  with 

exception  from — as  "This  case  is  an  exception  from  the  rule." 

exception  to — as  "I  want  to  take  exception  to  the  statement  of  the 
last  speaker." 

liable  to — when  you  mean  an  unfortunate  tendency;  as,  "My 
father  is  liable  to  rheumatism." 

Note. — Good  usage  does  not  countenance  the  use  of  the  infinitive 
after  liable.     Say:   "He  is  likely  to  die";   "He  is  apt  to  take  cold." 

liable  for — when  you  mean  responsible;  as,  "Each  partner  is 
liable  for  the  debts  of  the  firm." 

part  from — a  friend 

part  with — money  or  other  possessions 

profit  by 

reconcile  with — a  person 

reconcile  to — a  condition  or  situation 

Exercise  5 

Write  sentences  using  properly  all  the  phrases  in  the 
foregoing  list. 

10.  Correlative  conjunctions. — These  are  used  in  pairs. 
They  are — 

as — as 

so — as 

so — that 

such — as 

not  only — but  also 

both — and 

either — or 

neither — nor 

whether — or  • 


50  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

1.  San  Francisco  is  as  pleasant  as  Los  Angeles. 

2.  San  Francisco  is  not  so  hot  as  Los  Angeles. 

3.  We  shall  not  be  so  comfortable  in  Los  Angeles  as  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. 

Note. — ^Notice  that  you  use  so — as  in  negative  statements. 

4.  We  are  so  comfortable  in  San  Francisco  that  we  shall  stay 
all  summer. 

5.  We  came  early  so  that  we  might  see  the  crowd  gather  (never 
so  as  we  might ) . 

6.  We  shall  take  only  such  clothing  as  we  shall  need. 

Note. — The  proper  placing  of  the  other  correlatives  will  be  dis- 
cussed under  clearness. 

11.  Double  negatives. — Two  words  like  no  and  not,  used 
in  the  same  connection,  destroy  each  other  and  constitute 
a  serious  error. 

He  wonH  have  none  of  that  foolishness  in  this  office. 

Hardly,  scarcely,  only,  and  hut  must  be  reckoned  as 
negatives.     You  can  not  say — 

1.  I  can't  hardly  distinguish  a  word  you  say. 

2.  I  can't  scarcely  wait  for  my  appointment. 

3.  I  can't  spend  only  a  minute. 

4.  I  haven't  but  one  punch  on  my  ticket. 

A  series  of  words  introduced  by  no  should  be  joined 
by  nor;  nor  is  also  used  to  continue  the  force  of  not  in  a 
previous  phrase  or  clause.    Say — 

1.  Any  man,  woman,  or  child  could  write  such  verses. 

2.  No  man,  woman,  nor  child  would  be  willing  to  write  such 
stuflf. 

12.  No  amount  of  classification  can  take  care  of  all 
cases  that  involve  the  correct  choice  of  words.  The  fol- 
lowing are  cautions  and  discriminations  to  guard  you 
against  common  mistakes  of  a  miscellaneous  sort. 

Above  should  not  be  used  either  as  a  noun  or  as  an  adjec- 
tive. It  is  correctly  used  as  an  adverb.  You  should  not 
say — 


DICTION  51 


1.  I  have  examined  the  above  statement  and  find  it  correct. 

2.  I  have  examined  the  above  and  find  it  correct. 

3.  I  did  not  witness  the  above  occurrence. 

You  may  say — 

1.  I  have  examined  the  foregoing  statement  and  find  it  correct. 

2.  I  did  not  witness  the  above-mentioned  occurrence. 

Same  should  never  be  used  instead  of  a  pronoun.  Don't 
use  it  or  defend  it,  no  matter  how  many  times  you  may  see 
it  used. 

1.  I  have  received  your  letter  and  noted  contents  of  same. 

2.  Send  fifteen  copies  of  "Business  English,"  as  I  wish  to  use 
same  for  my  class. 

3.  If  not  pleased  with  our  vacuum  cleaner,  return  same  at  our 
expense. 

Transpire  for  happen — Transpire  means  to  come  to 
light,  to  become  known ;  as — 

1.  This  event  happened  twenty  years  ago;  it  transpired  only 
yesterday. 

2.  Luckily  this  plot  transpired  in  time  for  us  to  place  guards 
on  the  property  and  prevent  mischief. 

Raise  for  rear — 

1.  I  was  reared  in  Indianapolis. 

2.  My  mother  reared  four  sons  to  manhood. 

3.  My  friend  in  Indianapolis  raised  ten  cocker  spaniels. 

4.  We  raise  in  our  own  garden  all  the  lettuce  we  need. 

Avoid  raise  for  increase,  as  in — 

1.  I  got  a  raise  in  my  salary. 

2.  The  agent  has  raised  our  rent. 

Last  for  latest — Don't  ask,  ''Have  you  heard  my  last 
story?"  lest  your  friend  reply,  *'I  hope  so."  You  may 
speak  of  Tennyson 's  last  poem.  As  long  as  Kipling  is  living 
and  writing  you  must  say  his  latest  poem. 

Stop  for    stay — 

1.  Did  you  go  to  Washington?  Yes,  but  I  only  stopped  there. 
I  could  not  stay. 


52  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS    ENGLISH 

2.  Did  you  stop  at  the  Biltmore?  Yes,  as  I  passed  by  I  stopped 
to  see  it.    I  could  not  afford  to  stay  there. 

Couple  for  two — ^You  can  properly  speak  of  a  couple  only 
when  the  two  objects  or  persons  are  linked;  as, 

Mr.  Bruce  and  his  wife  are  a  charming  couple;  they  have  two 
beautiful  children. 

Loan  for  lend — Loan  is  not  a  verb,  but  a  noun. 

1.  He  agrees  to  lend  me  a  thousand  dollars. 

2.  He  agreed  to  a  loan  of  a  thousand  dollars. 

3.  Lend  me  your  umbrella. 

4.  He  asks  the  loan  of  my  umbrella. 

Do  not  confuse  lend  and  horrow. 
Am  or  is  afraid  for  fear;  as, 

1.  I  am  afraid  I  can't  keep  my  engagement  (I  fear). 

2.  He  is  afraid  he  can't  pass  the  bar  examination  ( he  fears ) . 

3.  I  am  afraid  I  can't  pay  my  premium  next  month  ( I  fear ) . 

Can  for  may  or  may  for  can — 

Can  implies  ability;  may  implies  permission. 

1.  You  may  swim  if  you  can. 

2.  May  I  have  this  afternoon  free? 

3.  Can  you  find  the  error  in  this  problem? 

Quite  as  an  adjective — It  is  always  an  adverb.  Do  not 
say  quite  a  ivhile,  but  quite  a  long  while;  quite  a  few  is 
always  wrong,  and  when  you  mean  a  good  many  it  is  doubly 
absurd. 

Except,  without,  imless — 

Except  and  without  are  prepositions  and  introduce 
phrases.    Unless  is  a  conjunction  and  introduces  a  clause. 

1.  No  one  except  me  knew  the  combination  of  the  safe. 

2.  No  one  except  Mr.  Bruce  knows  how  to  turn  a  complaint 
into  a  sale. 


DICTION  53 


3.  You  can  not  hope  to  succeed  without  determination  and 
patience. 

4.  Wealth  without  health  is  a  mere  mockery. 

5.  You  can  not  hope  to  succeed  unless  you  develop  persistence 
and  patience. 

6.  You  will  not  receive  an  increase  in  salary  unless  you  show 
an  increase  in  efficiency. 

Like,  as — Like  is  followed  by  a  noun  or  pronoun  in  the 
objective  case.  As  is  a  conjunction  and  introduces  a  clause. 
Like  can  not  be  substituted  for  as  or  as  if. 

1.  Olson  looks  like  his  father.  Yes,  and  he  works  just  as  his 
father  did. 

2.  I  should  like  to  have  a  voice  like  yours. 

3.  You  might  develop  one  like  it,  if  you  would  practice  as  I  do. 

4.  Mr.  Bruce  is  walking  slowiy  as  if  he  were  ill. 

Exercise  6 

With  the  help  of  your  dictionary,  distinguish  between 
the  words  of  each  pair  in  the  following  list.  Do  not  try 
to  state  the  difference,  but  use  the  word  correctly  in  com- 
plete sentences.  Combine  any  of  the  words  in  sentences 
as  you  like,  but  give  each  its  true  value : 

accept — except  inventory — invoice 

advice — advise  leave — let 

affect — effect  less — few 

assure — promise  lose — loose 

center — middle  more — larger 

expect — hope  number — quantity 

fix — mend  sick — ill 

healthy — healthful  teach — learn 

We  must  not  suppose  that  we  have  covered  or  exhausted 
the  whole  wide  and  fascinating  field  of  correct  diction. 
Let  us  hope  we  have  done  enough  to  accomplish  three  de- 
sirable results : 


54  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

1.  To  furnish  you  with  the  correct  expression  in  most 
cases  likely  to  occur  in  your  practical  experience. 

2.  To  make  you  aware  of  some  of  the  problems  and  pos- 
sibilities in  the  choice  of  words. 

3.  To  awaken  your  interest  in  the  improvement  of  your 
diction  and  to  strengthen  your  taste  for  correct  and  refined 
expression. 


General  Exercises  in  Business  Composition 

The  paragraph  should  treat  but  one  item,  or  one  side, 
or  step  of  your  thought.  It  should  make  clear  what  this 
item  or  thought  is.  In  fact,  a  good  paragraph  usually  has 
what  we  call  a  topic  sentence,  which  states  clearly  what  the 
whole  paragraph  is  about.  The  rest  of  the  paragraph  is 
an  explanation  or  a  defense  of  the  idea  expressed  in  this 
topic  sentence.  In  business  writing  it  is  a  fairly  good  rule 
to  place  your  topic  sentence  first.  Desirable  variations  from 
this  rule  will  be  discussed  later. 

Study  the  following  paragraphs,  noticing  the  topic  sen- 
tence in  each : 

1.  A  good  headline  of  an  advertisement  should  be  short.  It 
has  been  determined  by  experiments  that  the  average  person  can 
perceive  only  four  visual  objects  at  the  same  time — four  letters,  four 
words,  four  persons  in  a  group,  four  geometrical  figures.  As  the 
headline  is  intended  to  be  taken  in  at  one  glance,  it  should  not  be 
longer  than  four  words — preferably  shorter,  provided  the  interest 
of  the  phrase  is  the  same.  If  the  words  themselves  are  also  short, 
the  line  is  all  the  more  certainly  grasped  at  first  sight. 

2.  In  the  teaching  of  ideals,  we  should  remember  that  we  are 
training  our  children  for  citizenship  in  a  democratic  community. 
We  must  not  give  them  the  ideala  of  those  who  were  trained  to  form  a 
subject  class,  who  needed  to  learn  only  obedience  to  authority.  The 
children  of  our  high  schools — all  our  children — ^are  to  be  among  the 
rulers  of  a  community  which  is  constantly  obliged  to  change  and 
to  make  its  own  laws,  and  take  its  own  responsibilities. 

3.  Democracy  has  always  held  up  an  ideal  of  equality.  This 
equality  in  1776  meant  that  no  one  is  so  superior  by  birth  and 
privilege  that  he  has  a  divine  right  to  rule  another;  it  was  in  a 
certain  sense  negative.  Today  the  point  which  needs  emphasis  is 
not  that  no  one  is  superior  to  another;  it  is  rather  the  positive 
idea,  that  we  must,  if  possible,  make  every  citizen  equal  to  the  best. 

1.  Write  a  letter  to  your  alderman,  your  mayor,  your 

55 


56  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

county  commissioner — to  whomever  you  should  appeal  to 
in  your  community,  urging  three  of  the  following  im- 
provements in  your  neighborhood: 

paving,  lighting,  park-way,  clearing  of  side-walks,  mending  a 
road,  building  a  bridge,  putting  up  sign-posts  and  speed- 
warnings. 

Let  your  letter  consist  of  five  paragraphs:  an  opening 
paragraph;  one  for  each  of  the  three  items  you  treat,  of 
not  less  than  sixty  words;  and  a  brief  closing  paragraph. 
Consult  the  section  on  letters  (Chapter  XII,  A)  and  put 
your  heading,  address,  salutation,  complimentary  close,  and 
signature  into  proper  form. 

2.  Prepare  a  speech  to  fill  five  minutes  to  be  delivered 
before  the  council  or  committee,  asking  for  these  same 
improvements. 

In  both  the  speech  and  the  letter  let  your  paragraphs 
be  of  the  kind  that  announce  the  topic  in  the  opening  sen- 
tence. 


CHAPTER  V 
CORRECT  ARRANGEMENT 

The  normal  arrangement  of  words  in  the  normal  declara- 
tive sentence  is — first,  the  subject,  a  noun;  second,  the 
predicate,  a  verb;  third,  the  object,  a  noun.  To  the  two 
nouns  are  attached  their  modifiers,  which  are  adjectives  or 
the  equivalent  of  adjectives.  To  the  verb  are  attached  its 
modifiers,  w^hich  are  adverbs  or  the  equivalent  of  adverbs. 

Many  sentences  contain  no  object;  many  contain  no 
modifiers;  but  every  declarative  sentence  makes  a  com- 
plete statement,  and  every  declarative  sentence  must  have 
a  subject  and  a  predicate. 

1.  Flies  carry  germs. 

2.  Ordinary  house-^ies  carry  the  germs  of  disease. 

3.  Ordinary  house-flies,  which  breed  by  the  thousands  in  some 
neglected  and  unnoticed  bit  of  filth,  carry  on  their  feet  and  in  the 
minute  hairs  with  which  their  bodies  are  provided,  untold  numbers 
of  germs  of  typhoid  and  perhaps  of  other  dangerous  diseases. 

Each  of  these  three  sentences,  though  they  vary  so 
greatly  in  length,  displays  the  normal  arrangement  of  (1) 
subject  and  modifiers,  (2)  verb  and  modifiers,  (3)  object 
and  modifiers. 

This  arrangement  may  be  varied  for  special  purposes — 
some  specific  effect  of  clearness  or  emphasis;  these  varia- 
tions will  be  discussed  in  their  proper  places.  But  what- 
ever the  arrangement  of  the  parts  of  the  sentence,  the 
central  rule  of  correct  arrangement  is  that  the  modifiers 
be  placed  as  close  as  possible  to  the  words  they  modify.  A 
misplaced   modifier   may   render   the    meaning   doubtful, 

57 


58  ESSENTIALS    OF  BUSINESS    ENGLISH 

though  in  most  cases  it  does  not — ^you  can  make  out  easily 
enough  the  meaning  intended.  But  the  awkward  and  some- 
times ludicrous  effect  is  unfortunate.  Take  the  old-timer 
that  has  been  given  in  the  text-books  for  generations,  *'I 
counted  twenty-seven  meteors  sitting  on  my  back  porch' '; 
the  meaning  is,  of  course,  unmistakable,  but  the  combination 
is  absurd  and  tempts  the  light-minded  to  a  giggle.  And  the 
fault  is  so  easy  to  remedy — ''I,  sitting  on  my  back  porch," 
etc.,  or  ''Sitting  on  my  back  porch,  I,''  etc.  In  a  word — 
place  the  modifier  as  close  as  possible  to  the  word  it  mod- 
ifies, or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  place  the  words 
so  that  their  connection  may  be  unmistakable. 

1.  Words  that  axe  likely  to  be  incorrectly  placed. — 
Perhaps    the    first    word    in    frequency    of    misplace- 
ment is  only — 

1.  Only  I  saw  him  today — he  would  receive  no  one  else. 

2.  I  only  saw  him  today — I  had  no  chance  to  speak  to  him. 

3.  I  saw  only  him  today — his  brother  could  not  come. 

4.  I  saw  him  only  today — ^he  was  engaged  yesterday. 

Other  modifying  words  capable  of  almost  as  many  ad- 
justments and  variations  of  meaning  are  not,  merely^  cer- 
tainly, also,  even,  almost,  ever,  never,  enough,  nearly. 

Exercise  1 

There  are  one  or  more  errors  or  uncertainties  in  each 
of  the  following  sentences.  Correct  them.  If  any  of  the 
sentences  are  capable  of  two  correct  arrangements,  give 
both.    The  words  to  be  changed  are  italicized : 

1.  T  did  not  go  to  criticize  the  lecture  but  to  enjoy  it.     (As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  you  did  go.) 

2.  Send  also  your  booklet  on  Business  English  to  my  brother  who 
will  study  with  me. 

3.  I  only  missed  the  train  for  Omaha  by  three  minutes. 

4.  He  was  so  embittered  he  even  hated  his  brother. 
6.  He  not  only  disliked,  he  hated  even  his  brother. 


ARRANGEMENT  59 


6.  He  hated  everybody — he  even  hated  his  own  brother. 

7.  I  don't  ever  remember  to  have  learned  the  rule  for  the  placing 
of  "ever." 

8.  Our  business  has  almost  grown  beyond  our  present  quarters. 

9.  I  never  expected  to  receive  so  many  orders  in  one  week. 

10.  All  the  members  are  not  invited. 

11.  The  two  ladies  were  nearly  dressed  alike. 

12.  Few   men   can   write    persuasive    enough   copy   to    sell    their 
goods. 

13.  I  only  decided  to  take  return  passage  on  the  "Arabic"  at  the 
last  moment. 

14.  I  can  not  find  one  of  those  sheets  of  carbon  paper;  they  have 
probably  all  been  used. 

15.  He  is  not  even  able  to  take  the  first  step  in  the  process.    We 
never  expect  him  to  learn. 

(Decide  when  you  should  use  never  and  when  not     .     .     .     ever.) 

16.  Will  you  wait  and  take  my  mail?     I  only  have  two  more 
envelopes  to  direct. 

17.  Mr.  Bruce  will  see  you,  but  he  only  has  twenty  minutes  to  give 
you. 

18.  I  don't  think  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  the  check  certified. 

19.  You  only  vote  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  shares  you 
own. 

20.  The  two  whistles  almost  sounded  at  the  same  moment. 

21.  He  merely  needs  to  know  the  title  of  a  book  to  tell  you  the 
author. 

22.  We  shall  only  take  such  clothing  as  we  shall  need. 

2.  The  place  of  correlatives. — When  you  use  the  cor- 
relatives either  .  .  .  or,  neither  .  .  .  inor,  not  only  .  .  .  hui  also, 
both  . .  .  and,  whether . .  .  or,  you  must  take  care  that  the  two 
parts  or  elements  that  they  connect  are  of  equal  importance 
and  of  the  same  kind. 

1.  Both  my  father  and  I  intend  to  go  to  San  Francisco. 

2.  Either  my  father  or  I  will  go  to  Panama;  neither  my  father 
nor  /  will  go  to  Brazil. 

3.  We  shall  sail  either  from  Galveston  or  from  New  Orleans. 

4.  We  shall  sail  neither  from  Savannah  nor  from  Galveston,  but 
from  New  York. 


60  ESSENTIALS    OF    BUSINESS    ENGLISH 

5.  We  shall  either  sail  from  New  York  or  go  hy  rail  from  Chi- 
cago. 

6.  Whether  we  go  or  remain  at  home  depends  on  the  state  of  our 
business. 

Note. — Whether  can  not  be  used  without  or,  nor  without  stating 
or  implying  the  alternative.  You  can  not  correctly  say,  "I  do  not 
know  whether  I  shall  go."  You  must  say,  "I  don't  know  whether  X 
shall  go  or  stay,"  or,  "I  do  not  know  whether  I  shall  go  or  not." 

7.  Whether  I  go  to  Panama  or  not  matters  little,  since  not  only 
my  father  but  his  partner  also  will  go. 

Exercise  2 

When  you  have  studied  the  foregoing  examples,  correct 
the  following: 

1.  My  partner  neither  has  time  nor  money  to  go  to  Panama. 

2.  Either  my  partner  will  go  to  San  Francisco  or  Los  Angeles. 

3.  I  shall  either  build  a  monoplane  or  a  biplane  this  vacation. 

4.  Whether  we  see  the  Canal  next  year  depends  on  our  business. 

5.  I  fear  we  shall  neither  go  next  year  nor  the  year  after. 

6.  We  shall  go  both  for  reasons  of  pleasure  and  profit. 

7.  The  delegation  from  the  Board  of  Trade  not  only  will  go  to  San 
Francisco  but  also  to  Seattle. 

8.  We  hope  both  to  see  Vancouver  and  Victoria. 

9.  We  hope  that  both  the  state  of  my  father's  health  and  his 
partner's  will  be  improved  by  the  trip. 

3.  Participles  out  of  place. — A  very  useful  but  rather 
elusive  word  is  your  participle.  It  seems  as  if  it  had  a  will 
of  its  own,  peculiarly  inclined  to  go  astray  in  the  sentence 
and  likely  to  do  much  damage  in  its  wandering.  The  mis- 
placed participle  is  so  well  known  to  all  students  of  style 
that  it  has  received  a  sort  of  jocular  nick-name ;  it  is  called 
the  * '  dangling  participle ' '  and  the  phrase  that  it  leads  with 
it,  ''the  dangling  phrase/'  The  fault  can  sometimes  be 
cured  by  rearrangement,  but  very  often  the  sentence  must 
be  partially  or  entirely  rewritten. 

The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  attach  the  stray  participle  to  a 


ARRANGEMENT  Ql 


noun  or  pronoun.  Make  it  a  rule  that  the  participle  or 
participial  phrase  that  introduces  a  sentence  must  belong 
to  the  subject  of  the  sentence. 

Wrong:     Standing  on  the  shore,  two  boats  were  seen  approaching. 

Right:     Standing  on  the  shore,  /  saw  two  boats  approaching. 

Wrong:     Comirg  down  on  the  Elevated,  a  serious  accident  was 
witnessed  by  Olson. 

Right:     Coming  down  on  the  Elevated,  Olson  witnessed  a  serious 
accident. 

Wrong:      Coming  up  the  path,  an  idea  occurred  to  me. 

Right:      Coming  up  the  path,  /  conceived  an  idea. 

Wrong:     After  gulping  down  my  coffee,  the  train  started. 

Right :     After  /  had  gulped  down  my  coffee,  the  train  started, 
or 

After  gulping  down  my  coffee,  I  rushed  for  the  train. 

Wrong:     Opening  the  door,  an  appalling  object  met  his  eyes. 

Wrong:      Opening  the  door,  his  eyes  fell  upon  an  appalling  object. 

Right:     Opening  the  door,  he  saw  before  him  an  appalling  object. 

W>ong:     Exhausted  by  his  hard  day's  work,  his  sleep  was  pro- 
found. 

Right:     Exhausted  by  his  hard  day's  work,  he  slept  profoundly. 

Wrong:     Almost  prostrated  by  the  heat,  the  taking  of  our  inven- 
tory was  postponed. 

Right :     Almost  prostrated  by  the  heat,  we  postponed  the  taking 
of  our  inventory. 

Wrong:     Thoroughly  discouraged,  another  change  of  employment 
confronted  him. 

Right:     Thoroughly  discouraged,   he  was  confronted  by  another 
change  of  employment. 

Exercise  3 
Revise  the  following,  rewriting  when  necessary. 

1.  Graduating  from  the  stock-room,  the  firm  promoted  Lewis  to 
fancy  groceries. 

2.  Looking   down    from   the   third-story   window,   he   was   plainly 
seen  entering  a  saloon. 

3.  Going  on  from  one  department  to  another,  the  whole  business 
became  familiar  to  Lewis. 


g2  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

4.  Coming  into  the  office  early,  a  huge  batch  of  mail  was  seen 
on  the  manager's  desk. 

5.  Before  becoming  a  sales-manager,  all  branches  of  the  business 
must  be  well  known. 

6.  Upon  lifting  the  receiver,  a  ticking  sound  is  heard. 

7.  Absorbed  all  day  in  professional  details  that  consume  all  his 
energy,  his  evenings  are  spent  in  the  most  trifling  recreations. 

8.  Sitting  in  my  office,  twenty-five  people  called  me  to  the  tele- 
phone in  two  hours. 

4.  The  infinitive  phrase. — It  is  usually  considered  wrong 
to  allow  any  modifier  to  come  between  the  to  and  the  verb 
to  which  it  belongs  in  infinitive  phrases,  such  as  to  write,  to 
see,  to  hope,  to  know.  This  error,  too,  has  its  own  name 
and  is  called  "the  split  infinitive.'' 

Do  not  say — 

We  regret  that  it  was  impossible  to  immediately  answer  your 
letter. 

But  say — 
to  answer  immediately,  or  immediately  to  answer. 

Do  not  say — 

We  have  instructed  our  secretary  to  in  every  possible  way  accom- 
modate your  friend. 

But  say — 

to  accommodate  in  every  possible  vxiy,  or  in  every  possible  way 
to  accommodate. 

Exercise  4 
Correct  the  following : 

1.  Allow  the  tablet  to  slowly  dissolve  upon  the  tongue. 

2.  I  hope  to  promptly  complete  the  course  and  to  successfully 
pass  the  examination. 

3.  The  trade-name  is  the  means  by  which  I  am  able  to  unmis- 
takably fix  the  good  will  I  have  for  this  article  of  merchandise. 

4.  The  trade-name  gives  an  opportunity  to  always  connect  good 
will  with  goods  after  they  have  left  the  hands  of  the  producer. 


ARRANGEMENT  53 


5.  The  purchaser  must  be  given  a  chance  to  freely  choose. 

6.  Producers  would  have  no  incentive  to  always  make  a  good 
article  if  buyers  could  not  ascertain  its  source. 

7.  You  should  learn  to  rapidly  and  thoroughly  repair  your  own 
machine. 

5.  Clause  and  phrase  modifiers  out  of  place. — Clause 
and  phrase  modifiers  out  of  place  are  often  fatal  to  the 
dignity,  and  sometimes  to  the  meaning  of  the  sentence.  The 
same  rule  applies  as  in  the  cases  we  have  discussed — place 
them  so  that  their  connection  with  the  words  they  modify 
is  unmistakable.  Sometimes  it  is  easy  to  transpose  them  to 
the  proper  position;  sometimes  the  sentence  is  incurable 
and  the  thought  has  to  be  completely  reworded.  The  fol- 
lowing sentences  are  given  partly  for  the  ''gaiety  of  na- 
tions," partly  for  practice  in  the  proper  placing  of  mod- 
ifiers : 


1.  We   sell  tailored  yoimg  men's   clothing  that   are   individual 
creations. 

2.  He  intimated  that  there  was  something  wrong  with  Mr.  Mor- 
ton over  the  'phone. 

3.  Many  alert  ad  men  have  distributed  thousands  of  sticks  in  the 
past  of  chewing  gum. 

4.  Children  occupying  seats  over  five  years,  five  cents. 

5.  God  reigns,  and  the  government  still  lives  in  Washington. 

6.  Our  customer  looked  up  from  his  bent  position  over  the  con- 
tents of  his  plate  which  he  was  devouring  in  large  mouthfuls. 

7.  He  was  asked  if  he  wanted  the  appointment  twice. 

8.  He  carved  the  roast  instead  of  his  father. 

9.  They  are  offering  prizes  to  those  producing  the  best  adver- 
tising copy  amounting  to  five  hundred  dollars. 

10.  The  vegetables  were  shipped  in  a  lovely  basket  which  we  ate. 

11.  I   lived  in  dread  of  being  permanently  dismissed  for   three 
months. 


64  ESSENTIALS    OF   BUSINESS    ENGLISH 

6.  The  arrangement  of  material  in  sentences. — It  is  im- 
possible to  give  formal  rules  about  the  making  of  sentences. 
A  sentence  should  express  a  complete  thought;  if  the 
thought  is  simple  the  sentence  will  naturally  be  short  and 
simple ;  if  the  thought  is  complex,  with  shadings  and  excep- 
tions, the  sentence  becomes  more  complex  and  involved 
in  order  to  express  the  thought;  if  you  have  two  ideas 
or  two  sides  of  an  idea  that  are  so  closely  united  that  you 
can  not  separate  them,  you  may  put  them  into  one  sentence, 
joining  them  with  the  proper  conjunction.  All  three  kinds 
of  sentences  are  good  when  they  are  good. 

As  you  gain  experience  in  writing  and  speaking  you 
will  find  that  your  thoughts  tend  to  flow  into  good  sentence 
forms.  There  are  a  few  items  of  advice  and  caution  about 
the  organization  of  your  material  into  sentences  that  will 
help  you  in  the  beginning. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  better  to  arrange  your  material  in 
short,  concise  sentences.  Don't  be  afraid  of  a  long  com- 
plex sentence  when  your  thought  flows  naturally  into 
that  form — -but  see  that  it  be  compact. 

Avoid  the  long,  loose,  flowing  sentence,  such  as  this 
I  am  now  writing  which  adds  on  phrases  and  clauses  until 
one  loses  his  way  among  them,  and  does  not  know  what 
to  do  with  the  orphan  modifiers  that  he  finds  wailing  be- 
side the  path  with  no  motherly  noun  or  fatherly  verb  upon 
whose  bosom  they  may  rest,  or  beside  whose  hearthstone 
they  are  entitled  to  sit. 

Instead  of  a  long  sentence  consisting  of  these  me- 
chanically joined  elements,  throw  your  thoughts  into  short, 
complete  sentences.  Then  show  the  essential  union  among 
these  by  arranging  them  in  a  paragraph.  The  short  sen- 
tence is  likely  to  be  more  successful  in  business  writing 
than  the  long  sentence.  Below  are  given  a  few  passages 
that  you  will  be  asked  to  reconstruct  with  a  series  of  brief, 


ARRANGEMENT  65 


more  concise  sentences.  When  you  reconstruct  them, 
however,  make  sure  that  you  make  real  sentences.  Don't 
cut  them  up  into  sections,  some  of  which  are  only  phrases 
or  clauses,  or  other  detached  parts  of  sentences.  Make 
any  changes  you  see  fit  in  reconstructing  the  passages. 


Exercise  5 

Recast  the  following  passages,  making  as  many  sentences 
as  you  think  necessary.  Omit  or  supply  connectives  at 
your  discretion. 

1.  Managing  a  business  is  like  steering  a  ship  inasmuch  as  no 
matter  how  well-built  a  vessel  may  be,  or  what  speed  she  may  develop, 
she  will  never  reach  port  imless  there  is  a  man  at  the  helm  who  can 
steer,  and  so  many  a  business  with  a  big  idea  behind  it,  and  full  of 
vital  profit-making  possibilities  has  gone  on  the  rocks  because  the 
man  at  the  wheel  was  not  a  good  manager,  and  this  applies  with 
double  force  to  the  small  business  that  is  not  yet  under  way,  for 
while  in  a  big  business  faults  in  management  may  be  overcome,  a 
young  and  struggling  business  must  be  managed  right  if  it  is  to 
grow. 

2.  The  English  Co-operative  Wholesale  Society  operates  the  big- 
gest flour  mills  and  the  biggest  shoe  factory  in  all  Great  Britain,  it 
manufactures  woolen  cloths,  all  kinds  of  men's,  women's,  and  chil- 
dren's clothing,  a  dozen  kinds  of  prepared  foods,  and  as  many  house- 
hold articles,  it  operates  creameries,  it  carries  on  every  branch  of  the 
printing  business,  it  is  now  buying  coal  lands,  it  has  a  bacon  fac- 
tory in  Denmark,  a  tallow  and  oil  factory  in  Australia,  it  grows  tea 
in  Ceylon,  and  through  all  the  purchasing  done  by  the  society  runs 
the  general  principle  of  going  direct  to  the  source  of  production, 
whether  at  home  or  abroad,  so  as  to  save  commissions  of  middlemen 
and  agents. 

3.  The  beginner  in  any  kind  of  business  should  never  be  afraid 
to  ask  a  sensible  question  because  many  mistakes  have  been  made  in 
business  by  girls,  especially  those  who  have  not  been  at  work  long, 
who  though  they  did  not  understand  what  was  wanted  of  them 
disliked  to  ask  so  as  to  be  told  more  fully,  probably  having  the 
feeling  that  one  who  can  grasp  a  situation  readily  and  not  have 
to  ask  questions  will   be  considered  particularly  bright,   and  girls 


66  ESSENTIALS    OF    BUSINESS    ENGLISH 

often  think  they  will  not  appear  to  the  best  advantage  if  they  do 
not  grasp  at  once  what  is  wanted,  while  the  fact  is  it  is  the  one 
who  never  makes  mistakes  who  is  valued  more  than  the  one  who 
apparently  grasps  the  situation,  but  is  not  sure  enough  to  do  properly 
what  is  expected  of  her. 

7.  The  arrangement  of  sentences  in  the  paragraph. — 

There  is  no  one  good  way  of  arranging  your  sentences  into 
paragraphs.  The  best  paragraphs  are  those  that,  as  it 
were,  flower  out  naturally  into  sentences.  Don't  get  it 
into  your  head  that  there  is  any  one  good  kind  of  para- 
graph— all  kinds  are  good  when  they  are  good.  There  are 
three  ways  of  arranging  a  paragraph  that  a  young  writer 
or  scholar  may  bear  in  mind : 

1.  You  place  your  topic  sentence  first.  Then  you  am- 
plify, expand,  illustrate,  itemize,  define  — clarify  or  enforce 
it  in  any  way  you  see  fit. 

2.  You  lead  up  to  your  topic  sentence  by  your  examples, 
specifications,  and  other  amplifications — then  give  the  topic 
sentence  last. 

3.  You  combine  the  two — place  your  topic  sentence  first ; 
then  amplify,  then  sum  up,  or  reiterate  your  topic  at  the 
end. 

8.  The  arrangement  of  matter  in  paragraphs. — The  mak- 
ing of  paragraphs  will  have  to  be  discussed  again  under 
clearness,  and  under  effectiveness.  For  the  present,  study 
the  three  paragraphs  given  below  as  illustrating  the  three 
main  kinds  of  arrangement.  Find  the  topic  sentence  in 
each. 

1.  The  "private  brand"  man,  manufacturing  goods  to  sell  within 
the  state  of  manufacture,  is  in  the  business  not  to  make  a  reputation, 
but  to  make  money  and  to  make  it  rapidly.  Hence,  his  scheme  is 
to  doctor  and  dose  the  foods  in  ways  calculated  to  cheapen  the  cost 
of  production.  He  employs  the  cheapest  help;  he  buys  the  raw 
products  at  the  lowest  price;  he  even  buys  the  cast-off  products  of 
legitimate  factories,  and  by  the  use  of  chemical  preservatives  and 


ARRANGEMENT  57 


coloring  makes  them  into  foods  sold  to  customers  as  pure,  wholesome 
comestibles. — National  Food  Magazine  quoted  in  "Advertising  as  a 
Business  Force."     (Adapted.) 

2.  Imagine  that  you  are  a  druggist  in  a  small  town.  Suppose 
that  a  woman  comes  in  to  buy  two  ounces  of  camphor  and  in  exchange 
gives  you  three  eggs.  In  a  few  moments,  perhaps,  a  man  enters  to 
buy  a  safety  razor,  and  brings  with  him  wheat  enough  to  pay  the 
bill.  Another,  again,  wishes  to  trade  a  turkey  for  a  fountain  pen. 
You  can  readily  see  the  inconvenience  to  which  you  would  be  put  in 
such  exchanges  of  actual  commodities;  yet  this  was  the  method  used 
in  primitive  times,  a  method  called  barter. — ^Buhlig,  "Business 
English." 

3.  The  difficulty  in  making  the  valuation  of  the  country's  rail- 
roads has  been  in  getting  junior  engineers  who  can  pass  the  civil 
service  examinations.  There  have  been  about  six  hundred  applicants, 
but  comparatively  few  have  passed  the  test,  because  of  lack  of  expe- 
rience. A  large  number  of  candidates  have  come  almost  direct  from 
technical  schools.  The  commission  has  experienced  no  trouble  get- 
ting senior  engineers,  as  comparatively  few  are  needed;  rodmen,  line- 
men, and  computers  are  plentiful.  But  the  whole  organization  has 
been  retarded  by  the  short  supply  of  junior  engineers  to  make  up 
the  field  parties. 


General  Exercises  in  Business  Composition 

1.  Write  a  letter  to  your  family  newspaper  to  call  atten- 
tion— 

a)  To  the  facilities  afforded  by  your  public  reading-room 
or  school  library — 
i.  Seats,  lights,  and  other  physical  comforts, 
ii.  Attendance,  convenience  of  access  to  the  ma- 
terial, 
iii.  Periodicals  and  books. 
h)  To  the  opportunities  for  intellectual  improvement  in 
your  town  or  neighborhood — 
i.  Schools. 

ii.  Lectures,  plays,  sermons, 
iii.  Clubs. 

iv.  Industries  and  occupations. 
Choose  one  or  the  other  of  these  topics,  according  to  the 
character  of  your  neighborhood.  You  will  notice  that  in 
one  topic  three  paragraphs  are  suggested,  in  the  other  four. 
This  covers  only  the  body  of  the  letter.  You  will  need 
in  each  case  an  introductory  paragraph,  and  you  may  add 
a  closing  paragraph  if  you  think  you  need  it. 

Consult  the  section  on  letters  (Chapter  XII,  A)  and  make 
sure  that  you  have  the  formal  parts  of  your  letter  right. 

2.  Prepare  a  five-minute  talk  on  the  same  topic  to  be 
given  at  a  banquet  or  a  mass  meeting  where  other  speeches 
are  given  on  other  aspects  of  your  community  life. 

Note  carefully  any  differences  you  make  between  the 
written  form  and  the  form  to  be  spoken. 


68 


CHAPTER  VI 

VOCABULARY 

Your  total  "vocabulary"  consists  of  all  the  words  you 
know  the  meaning  of — whether  you  use  them  yourself  or 
only  understand  them  when  you  hear  or  read  them.  As  a 
practical  fact  most  of  us  have  three  vocabularies  that  over- 
lap only  slightly:  (1)  the  comparatively  small  and  inti- 
mate list  of  words  we  use  for  communing  with  those  we 
know  best — our  family  and  our  chums;  (2)  the  larger  and 
more  specialized  list  we  use  in  our  business  and  affairs,  and 
in  our  larger  circle  of  acquaintances;  and  (3)  the  large  and 
ever-growing  list  that  we  understand  when  we  read,  when 
we  listen  to  the  drama,  when  we  hear  a  public  speaker. 

If  you  have  not  studied  the  matter  before,  you  will  find 
that  you  have  a  larger  vocabulary  than  you  think.  You 
could  probably  use  2500  or  3000  words.  You  could  intelli- 
gently read  three  or  four  times  that  number.  But  since  a 
complete  English  dictionary  contains  about  450,000  English 
words,  you  will  scarcely  plume  yourself  on  the  size  of  your 
vocabulary. 

You  need  to  increase  the  size  of  your  active  vocabulary, 
not  in  order  to  use  more  words;  you  need  to  know  more 
words  so  as  to  choose  the  right  ones — the  most  effective 
for  your  purpose.  Increasing  your  supply  of  words  ac- 
tually operates  to  reduce  the  number  you  use  for  a  given 
purpose,  because  it  offers  you  the  chance  to  choose  the 
most  accurate  and  telling  words. 

Everybody,  except  the  most  expert  literary  man  on  the 

69 


70  ESSENTIALS    OF   BUSINESS    ENGLISH 

one  hand,  and  the  glibbest  ignoramus  on  the  other,  knows 
more  than  he  can  tell.  How  often  you  yourself  have  to 
say,  '^I  know  what  I  mean,  but  when  I  try  to  tell  it,  it 
doesn't  sound  right ! ' '  How  often  you  have  to  say,  * ' I  see  I 
have  not  made  you  see  what  I  mean. ' '  And  this,  more  often 
than  not,  is  because  you  can  not  find  the  right  word — 
the  one  you  have,  expressing  your  thought  only  roughly 
and  crudely. 

Besides,  there  is  this  interesting  fact  about  words — 
they  not  only  express  thought  and  feeling;  they  also 
awaken  them.  When  you  learn  a  new  word  and  its  mean- 
ing, new  vistas  are  opened  in  your  mind;  you  find  you 
have  acquired  not  merely  a  new  word,  but  a  guide  into  new 
ways  of  thinking  and  into  new  fields  of  thought.  You  can 
see,  then,  how  important  and  far-reaching  an  influence  in 
your  education  is  the  acquisition  of  new  words. 

There  are  two  directions  in  which  your  vocabulary  needs 
improving : 

First,  in  range ;  this  means  the  constant  addition  of  new 
words. 

Second,  in  accuracy ;  this  means  the  study  of  the  words — 
their  history,  their  meaning,  their  use  in  sentences,  and  the 
development  of  an  ever  finer  sense  of  discrimination  among 
words. 

But  it  is  not  sufficient  to  advise  a  student,  in  the  blithe 
manner  of  most  of  the  books,  to  read  a  great  many  good 
writers  and  to  study  his  dictionary;  to  be  really  helpful 
we  must  be  much  more  specific  and  much  more  practical. 

This  chapter  will  suggest  some  dozen  processes  by  which 
you  can  improve  your  vocabulary.  You  can  not  use  these 
once  and  have  done  with  them.  As  you  go  through  this 
book  for  the  first  time,  you  may  not  find  it  possible  to 
follow  out  all  the  suggestions  in  all  their  details.  But  so 
long  as  you  are  a  student,  and  interested  in  improving 


VOCABULARY  71 


your  expression,  you  should  keep  these  suggestions  in  mind 
and  continue  to  use  them. 

1.  Discard  slang  and  cant  terms. — Drop  all  those 
slang  and  semi-slang  words  and  phrases  that  serve  as 
mere  blanket  terms,  and  have  no  color  and  no  central  mean- 
ing of  their  own — proposition,  job,  goods,  efficiency ,  red 
Mood,  good,  swell,  nice,  clever,  dandy,  etc.,  and  force  your- 
self to  substitute  for  them  words  which  have,  each  in  its 
own  place,  true  color  and  real  meaning.  Substitutes  for 
these  and  others  like  them  have  been  suggested.  (See 
Chapter  IV.) 

2.  Reject  meaningless  summing-up  phrases. — Do  not  use 
the  phrases  and  so  forth,  so  forth  and  so  on,  that  sort  of 
thing,  such  things  as  that,  and  all  such,  and  others  of  the 
same  kind  unless  you  really  have  an  indefinite  number 
of  ideas  or  objects  in  the  same  class  or  series.  Unless 
there  is  such  an  indefinite  number,  you  throw  in  these 
phrases  to  make  the  impression  that  you  have  at  your  com- 
mand instances  too  numerous  to  mention — in  which  case  it 
is  mere  bluff, — or  you  use  them  because  you  are  too  indolent 
to  put  into  words  the  other  instances  you  have  in  mind. 
When  the  latter  is  the  case,  force  yourself  to  find  words 
for  the  other  objects  and  instances.  You  are  justified  in 
using  the  phrases  under  discussion  only  when  the  series  is 
indefinitely  long,  or  really  consists  of  instances  too  numerous 
to  mention.    Notice  these : 

1.  Football  should  not  be  played  without  careful  preparation 
and  all  that  sort  of  thing. 

2.  Football  should  not  be  played  without  physical  examination 
followed  by  careful  and  gradual  preparation. 

1.  Bruises,  sprains,  and  so  forth  and  so  on  are  not  uncommon. 

2.  Bruises,  sprains,  dislocations,  and  fractures  are  not  uncom- 
mon. 

1.  The  knocking  out  of  a  football  player  is  due  to  shock  or  some 
such  thing. 


72  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

2.  The  knocking  out  of  a  football  player  is  due  to  shock  or  to 
exhaustion. 

1.  The  emergency  supplies  needed  are  a  few  narrow  gauze 
bandages,  two  Red  Cross  first-aid  packets,  and  such  things  as  that. 

2.  The  emergency  supplies  needed  are  a  few  narrow  gauze  band- 
ages, two  Red  Cross  first-aid  packets,  a  roll  of  rubber  plaster,  a  two- 
ounce  bottle  of  aromatic  spirits  of  ammonia,  a  sharp  knife,  a  pair 
of  scissors,  and  a  few  safety  and  common  pins. 

Exercise  1 
Continue  the  following  lists,   either  until  the  series  is 
complete,  or  until  you  have  given  a  sense  of  the  variety  or 
the  large  number  of  objects  involved : 

1.  To  write  practical  English  correctly  calls  for  a  knowledge  of 
grammatical  usage,  spelling,  and  so  forth. 

2.  Shippers  who  have  adopted  cellular  boards  for  packing  are 
making  great  saving  in  storage  space,  packing  costs,  and  all  that 
sort  of  thing. 

3.  To  furnish  your  office  conveniently  and  attractively,  you  will 
need  a  desk,  chairs,  and  such  things  as  that. 

4.  It  is  possible  to  demonstrate  the  increased  efficiency  in  the 
home  where  the  time  and  labor  of  servants  are  replaced  by  machinery 
— vacuum  cleaners,  electric  stoves,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing, 

5.  The  city  will  gradually  acquire  control  of  public  utilities,  gas, 
water,  and  so  forth. 

3.  Use  specific  words  rather  than  general  terms. — The 

use  of  specific  words  is,  like  the  use  of  a  good  paragraph 
structure,  so  central  a  point  of  good  writing  that  we  have 
to  consider  it  in  several  connections.  Specific  words  are 
necessary  for  clearness;  they  are  indispensable  for 
emphasis;  they  make  for  simplicity;  they  conduce  to  per- 
suasiveness. You  should,  therefore,  cultivate  the  habit  of 
substituting  them  whenever  possible  for  general  terms,  and 
you  should  learn  how  to  analyze  a  vague  general  term  into 
its  component  specific  ones. 

Suppose  you  say  you  have  bought  the  hardware  for  your 
new  home.    Set  yourself  to  analyze  the  term  hardware  into 


VOCABULARY  73 


its  specific  varieties;  you  will  probably  acquire  several 
new  words  in  the  process.  You  say,  "We  raise  all  manner 
of  vegetables  in  our  garden."  Split  up  the  general  term 
vegetables  into  as  many  specific  varieties  as  you  would  find 
in  the  ordinary  garden.    Note  these  examples : 

1.  In  a  little  glen  on  our  farm  all  kinds  of  luild  flowers  bloomed 
in  the  Spring. 

2.  In  a  little  glen  on  our  farm  one  could  find  blooming  in 
April — hepaticas,  trilliums,   violets,  and  marsh-marigolds. 

1.  I  should  like  to  go  to  some  quiet  place,  build  m.e  a  small  house, 
have  some  flowers  in  my  garden  for  the  bees,  and  live  alone. 

2.  "I  will  arise  and  go  now,  and  go  to  Innisfree 

And  a  small  cabin  build  there  of  clay  and  wattles  made: 
Nine  bean-rows  will  I  have  there,  a  hive  for  the  honey-bee, 
And  dwell  alone  in  the  bee-loud  glade." 

Exercise  2 

Write  sentences  analyzing  into  specific  terms  the  general 
terms  italicized  in  the  following  sentences: 

1.  Each  student  is  provided  with  the  set  of  hooks  he  needs  for 
double-entry  bookkeeping. 

2.  Colorado's  output  of  minerals  is  valuable. 

3.  The  office  force  consists  of  seven  men. 

4.  While  he  was  in  College  he  studied  a  great  deal  of  mathematics. 

5.  One  who  lives  in  his  own  house  in  a  large  city  finds  his  taxes 
very  burdensome. 

6.  In  the  great  technical  school  of  Cornell  they  train  engineers. 

7.  Professor  Morton  is  making  an  exhaustive  study  of  fuel. 

4.  Use  your  dictionary  with  intelligence  and  persist- 
ence.— There  are  at'  least  eleven  items  you  may  attend  to 
when  you  study  a  word  in  your  dictionary.  Not  all  these 
are  always  to  be  attended  to.  Sometimes  you  look  up  the 
word  for  the  spelling  alone;  sometimes  for  the  quickest 
and  most  obvious  definition  alone.  But  it  is  profitable  to 
make  frequent  deliberate  study  of  words,  following  in  de- 
tail the  plan  given  on  the  next  page. 


74 


ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 


1.  When  you  turn  to  the  word  you  are  interested  in, 
notice  the  spelling.  If  it  is  a  word  you  did  not  know 
before,  write  it  out. 

2.  Notice  the  pronunciation;  if  it  is  a  new  word  or 
one  that  you  have  mispronounced,  repeat  it  aloud  several 
times. 

3.  Write  out  any  inflections  given — ^plurals,  past  tenses, 
participles,  etc. 

4.  Notice  its  derivation  even  if  you  know  no  language 
other  than  English.  It  will  give  you  some  idea  of  the 
richness  of  your  language  to  see  the  variety  of  sources 
from  which  it  has  drawn  its  words. 

5.  Notice  how  many  meanings  it  has — 1,  2,  3,  etc.  Study 
these. 

6.  If  the  definition  contains  words  you  do  not  know, 
look  these  up  at  once. 

7.  If  you  are  directed  to  see  another  word,  do  not 
neglect  to  do  it. 

8.  If  there  are  synonyms  given,  look  up  all  those  whose 
meaning  you  do  not  know. 

9.  Read  all  the  derivatives,  noting  the  pronunciation 
and  spelling. 

10.  If  you  are  using  an  unabridged  dictionary,  read  the 
quotations  given  to  show  the  uses  of  the  word,  noticing  the 
date  of  the  earliest  instance. 

11.  Use  the  word  you  originally  looked  for  and  any 
others  you  have  learned  in  the  process,  if  they  seem  to  be 
useful  and  congenial  words.  It  is  well  to  keep  a  list  of 
promising  words  where  you  set  down,  as  you  study,  all 
the  words  you  learn  that  have  to  do  with  such  affairs  as 
you  are  concerned  in,  and  such  subjects  as  you  are  inter- 
ested in.  Of  course,  you  will  come  upon  many  words  in 
your  dictionary  studies  for  which  you  will  not  have  use — 
rare  and  learned  words,  mere  book  words,  purely  literary 


VOCABULARY  75 

words.    These  you  need  not  add  to  your  list,  unless  they 
especially  interest  you. 

Exercise  3 

Study  with  your  dictionary  the  following  words,  apply- 
ing, where  possible,  the  eleven  steps  of  the  process  given 
above : 


balance 

finance 

pay 

toll 

business 

guaranty 

profit 

trust 

collateral 

interest 

salary 

commodity 

option 

tariff 

Write  sentences  illustrating— 

Three  of  the  meanings  of  balance. 
Two  of  the  meanings  of  collateral. 
Two  of  the  synonyms  of  finance. 
The  financial  meaning  of  interest. 
The  primary  meaning  of  tariff". 

5.  Read  books  that  will  give  you  new  words  and  varied 
uses  of  words. — The  stories  in  the  cheap  weeklies  and 
magazines,  and  the  reporters'  news  in  the  morning  papers 
are  not  likely  to  contain  any  words  that  do  not  already 
belong  to  you.  Read  standard  authors ;  read  serious  maga- 
zines and  the  important  weeklies ;  read  the  trade  catalogues 
and  the  trade  journals  of  the  branches  of  business  you  are 
interested  in.  As  you  read,  jot  down  the  words  that  interest 
or  puzzle  you.  Study  them  with  your  dictionary,  and  adopt 
them  into  your  list,  if  they  are  promising. 

Stevenson 's  essay  on  ' '  Child 's  Play ' '  supplies  the  follow- 
ing words  that  would  interest  a  young  reader:  ribaldry, 
clamant,  figment,  enviable,  poignant,  visitant,  sociologize, 
imitable,  nonchalantly,  demean,  bagman,  mimetic,  divaga- 
tion, neophyte,  bemused,  besides  dozens  of  charming  and 
effective  combinations  of  familiar  words.  To  be  sure,  most 
of  these  words  belong  in  literary  writing  and  not  many  of 


76  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

them — perhaps  only  enviable,  imitahle,  demean  (be  sure  to 
get  the  correct  meaning  of  this  last  word) — would  seem 
likely  to  be  useful  to  a  practical  writer.  But  turn  at  random 
to  a  page  of  a  mail-order  catalogue.  The  two  pages  I 
happen  on  offer  me:  Stradivarius,  Cremona,  hass-har, 
flamy  maple,  purfling,  hames,  hillet,  terret,  winker-stay, 
tugs,  latigoe,  dee,  martingales,  cock-eyes,  housings,  nubia. 

6.  Lose  no  chance  to  hear  a  good  speaker. — Try  to  hear 
the  same  speaker  many  times.  We  do  not  get  the  same 
amount  of  knowledge  about  a  word  when  we  hear  it  spoken 
as  when  we  study  it  thoroughly  in  our  dictionary,  but  we 
get  its  setting  in  the  sentence,  and  its  pronunciation,  to- 
gether with  a  sense  of  the  flow  of  words,  which  is  very 
important  to  every  student  of  language,  spoken  or  written. 
You  soon  learn  that  there  are  real  and  important  differ- 
ences among  the  three  vocabularies — the  writing  vocabulary, 
the  public- speaking  vocabulary,  and  the  conversing  vocabu- 
lary. 

7.  Adapt  the  same  material  to  different  purposes  or 
different  persons. — Perhaps  no  single  exercise  will  tell  you 
so  much  about  your  own  active  vocabulary,  or  so  surely 
force  you  to  enlarge  and  otherwise  improve  it  as  the  one 
here  indicated.  You  will  notice  that  putting  the  same 
material  first  into  a  letter  or  an  article  and  then  into  a 
speech  or  an  argument  are  especially  helpful. 

Exercise  4 

You  have  been  in  the  country  and  you  missed  the  train 
that  you  should  have  taken  home.    Write  an  explanation — 

1.  To  your  partner  or  employer. 

2.  To  your  mother. 

3.  To  a  customer  or  a  client  who  was  expecting  to  meet  you. 

4.  To  your  chum. 

8.  The  study  of  synonyms. — These  are  groups  of  words 


VOCABULARY  77 


kindred  in  meaning,  or  so  long  associated  in  the  same  sub- 
ject, that  they  have  come  to  denote  only  more  or  less  delicate 
shades  of  meaning.  No  two  words  are  ever  entirely  identi- 
cal in  meaning;  a  delicate  sense  of  values  can  always  dis- 
tinguish some  difference — it  may  be  very  slight.  But  in 
the  give-and-take  of  affairs  many  of  them  are  treated  as 
completely  interchangeable.  It  is  a  very  good  thing  to  be 
able  to  vary  the  form  of  expression;  one  grows  deaf  to 
mere  reiteration;  it  is  a  still  better  thing  to  be  able  to  ex- 
press nice  shades  of  distinction  among  things. 

It  is  impossible  to  go  far  into  this  big  and  fascinating 
field  here;  we  can  only  do  enough  to  show  how  interest- 
ing and  valuable  are  the  things  to  be  found  in  it.  In  your 
dictionary  you  will  find  lists  of  synonyms  appended  to  many 
words;  you  should  always  read  over  this  list  and  investi- 
gate any  that  sound  promising  or  whose  meaning  you  do 
not  know.  For  example — 
Bargain — Syn.  stipulation,  engagement,  covenant. 
You  can  see  at  a  glance  that  you  are  not  likely  to  need 
covenant,  except  in  some  figurative  or  literary  or  legal  sense. 
Engagement  you  already  know.  Siipulation  you  should 
look  up.  This  will  lead  you  to  look  up  contract,  where  you 
will  find  useful  discriminations  made  in  a  large  group  of 

words. 
Barter — Syn.  see  Sell. 

Under  sell  you  will  find  useful  distinctions  made  among 
sell,  barter,  vend,  trade.  You  will  also  learn  purchase  and 
exchange.  The  derivation  of  barter  throws  an  amusing 
light  on  earlier  business  conditions. 

You  will  find  below  many  groups  of  words  of  kindred 
meaning,  which  have  been  chosen  with  an  eye  to  the  needs 
of  a  student  of  practical  affairs.  Go  through  them  all  once 
as  a  means  of  impressing  on  your  mind  the  wonderful  rich- 
ness and  variety  of  our  speech.     If  you  find  among  them 


78  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

words  you  do  not  know,  make  a  special  study  of  these 
words.  Make  it  a  practice  to  consult  the  list  when  you  are 
writing — especially  if  you  find  you  have  a  tendency  to 
overwork  some  particular  word.  When  you  see  that  you 
are  using  cojorless  and  common-place  words,  turn  to  the 
group  of  synonyms  in  which  your  word  occurs  and  try 
to  find  a  substitute — if  possible  a  more  precise  or  a  more 
suggestive  word. 

admission,  admittance 

affirm,  aver,  protest 

answer,  rejoinder,  reply,  response 

assent,  consent,  agree,  acquiesce,  concur,  accede 

bar,  barrier,  hindrance,  obstacle 

capacity,  volume,  content 

careful,  cautious,  wary,  prudent,  discreet 

cause,  reason,  motive,  incentive,  stimulus 

cheat,  defraud,  swindle,  dupe 

cite,  quote,  repeat,  extract 

client,  patient,  customer,  patron 

competent,  adequate,  fit,  capable,  suitable,  efficient 

confidence,  trust,  reliance,  assurance,  dependence 

continual,  continuous,  constant,  incessant 

credible,  probable,  plausible,  likely,  possible 

damage,  injury,  injustice,  wrong,  harm,  mischief 

decline,  refuse,  reject 

deference,  regard,  esteem,  respect,  reverence 

defer,  delay,  postpone 

deny,  dispute,  contradict,  protest,  refuse,  reject 

distribute,  divide,  allot,  assign,  dispose 

district,    circuit,   province,    region,    territory,    field,    parish,    section, 

circle,  zone 
effort,  endeavor,  exertion,  application,  pains,  trouble 
eliminate,  exclude,  remove 
eminent,  prominent,  well-known,  distinguished,  celebrated,  illustrious, 

famous,  noted,  notorious 
enterprising,  adventurous,  venturesome,  reckless,  fool-hardy 
error,  mistake,  blunder,  fault 

event,  incident,  occurrence,  circumstance,  happening,  accident 
example,  sample,  specimen,  instance 


VOCABULAKY 


79 


execute,  administer,  enforce 

finish,  close,  terminate,  conclude,  end 

Irugal,  sparing,  economical,  stingy,  miserly,  avaricious 

gain,  profit,  increase,  increment 

gain,  earn,  deserve,  obtain,  secure,  procure 

gainful,  lucrative,  profitable 

goods,  wares,  commodities,  chattels,  stock,  supplies,  merchandise, 
property,  realty,  real  estate,  resources,  means,  capital,  wealth, 
riches 

guess,  surmise,  suspect,  fancy,  suppose 

high,  lofty,  tall,  elevated 

hint,  mention,  imply,  suggest 

implement,  tool,  utensil,  instrument 

impulse,  incentive,  influence,  motive,  tendency,  bent 

incapable,  unqualified,  disqualified,  incompetent,  impotent,  incapaci- 
tated 

increase,  enlarge,  augment,  develop 

initiate,  inaugurate,  instal,  introduce,  begin,  commence,  originate, 
invent,  discover 

intervene,  interpose,  interfere,  mediate,  intercede,  go-between,  arbi- 
trate, negotiate,  adjust,  tamper,  meddle 

incite,  solicit,  attract,  draw,  tempt,  allure,  entice,  persuade 

jocular,  jovial,  jolly,  joyous,  joyful,  jocund 

journey,  tour,  trip,  jaunt,  excursion,  voyage 

judgment,  sensibility,  taste,  good  sense 

juncture,  exigency,  emergency,  crisis 

knowledge,  wisdom,  learning,  information,  education,  training,  expe- 
rience, schooling 

lax,  loose,  relaxed,  licentious,  dissolute,  dissipated 

limit,  boundary,  confine,  termination,  border,  horizon 

load,  burden,  cargo,  freight,  lading,  express,  carrier,  post 

machine,  device,  contrivance,  invention,  mechanism,  motor 

mechanic,  machinist,  mechanician,  workman,  artisan,  laborer,  pro- 
fessor, practitioner,  expert,  specialist 

nation,  race,  people,  tribe,  clan 

negligence,  neglect,  inadvertence,  oversight,  inattention,  carelessness, 
remissness 

opponent,  adversary,  antagonist,  rival,  competitor,  enemy,  foe 

prevalent,  prevailing,  current    , 


go  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

price,  charge,  cost,  expense,  value,  worth 

power,  strength,  vigor,  energy,  force 

prompt,  punctual,  ready,  quick,  prepared 

purpose,  end,  aim,  goal,  effect,  result 

resign,  relinquish,  surrender 

road,  route,  course,  career,  path,  track,  street,  pavement,  walk, 
highway,  right-of-way,  road-bed,  trail,  track 

scheme,  plan,  project,  design 

shop,  store,  factory,  depot 

skilful,  clever,  cunning,  crafty,  shrewd,  dexterous,  expert,  subtle, 
smart,  sharp,  sly,  wily,  keen 

slow,  sluggish,  late,  tardy,  dilatory,  inert,  inactive 

solve,  explain,  settle,  unravel 

special,  particular,  peculiar,  unique 

submit,  offer,  refer,  report 

sure,  certain,  confident,  positive,  definite,  convinced 

system,  order,  organization,  method 

trade,  craft,  business,  profession,  art,  science,  industry,  occupation, 
employment,  work,  calling,  vocation,  pursuit,  job 

trade-industrial-technieal-business-prof  essional-voeational  school,  ele- 
mentary school,  secondary  school,  college,  university 

unoccupied,  empty,  vacant,  blank,  vacated, 

useful,  serviceable,  available,  necessary 

useless,  futile,  vain,  fruitless 

usual,  habitual,  customary,  regular 

valid,  strong,  sound,  justifiable,  sufficient 

wages,  hire,  salary,  pay,  emolument,  fee,  compensation,  remuneration, 
perquisite 

waste,  squander,  spend,  lose,  consume,  destroy 

waste,  refuse,  surplus,  discard 

weary,  tired,  fatigued,  exhausted,  prostrated 

work,  labor,  toil,  drudgery 

9.  The  study  of  antonyms. — These  groups  are  precisely 
the  opposite  of  the  groups  of  synonyms.  They  are  words 
which  are  opposite  or  contradictory  in  meaning.  Curiously 
enough,  you  often  come  upon  the  right  word  in  thinking  of 
the  wrong  one,  and  it  enriches  and  enlarges  your  resources 


VOCABULARY  gi 


of  speech  to  know  these  pairs  of  contrasted  words.     A  few 
examples  are  given: 

small — large  debit — credit 

wide — narrow  plaintiff — defendant 

straight — crooked  zenith — nadir 

straight — curved  cause — effect 

angular — curved  weak — strong 
perpendicular — horizontal        export — import 

salt — sweet  emigrant — immigrant 

sweet — bitter  start — finish 

sweet — sour  brevity — length 

sweet — rancid  safety — danger 

fresh — stale  etc.,  etc. 

The  antonyms  of  many  words  are  formed  by  prefacing 
the  word  itself  with  one  of  the  negative  prefixes  in-  or  un- 
or  prefixing  non-  generally  with  a  hyphen.  See  your  dic- 
tionary under  in-  and  un-.  It  is  not  wise  for  the  ordinary 
writer  freely  to  coin  words  by  prefixing  non-.  Use  only 
those  that  are  well  established  in  the  language. 

Exercise  5 

Write  sentences  using  at  least  ten  of  the  pairs  of  anto- 
nyms given  above.  Let  the  sentences  be  statements  of 
opposing  ideas — antitheses. 

10.  The  study  of  homonyms. — There  are  in  our  language 
a  large  number  of  words — pairs  or  larger  groups — which 
are  alike  in  sound  and  sometimes  alike  in  form,  but  of 
different  origin  and  meaning.  It  is  quite  interesting  to 
distinguish  between  the  words  of  one  of  these  groups ;  and 
the  process  will  certainly  add  some  new  words  to  your 
vocabulary.  The  list  of  words  given  below  contains  only 
those  homonyms  that  are  identical  in  form;  those  that  are 
identical  in  sound  but  not  in  form    are  reserved  for  a 


82 


ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 


spelling  lesson. 

The  numeral  appended  to  each  word  tells 

how  many  meanings  you  are  to  find  in  each  case. 

arch  ( of  stone ) 

exact  2                       lumber  3                    saw  3 

arch  (coy, 

waggish) 

fast  3                         meal  2                        see  2 

arm  2 

flag  4                         mean  3                       size  3 

bale  2 

fuse  3                         mint  2                       sole  3 

baU2 

hale  2                        net  2                          sound  4 

base  2 

hold  2                        page  2                       spray  4 

bass  2 

host  2                        pale  2                        stay  2 

boot  2 

jar  2                          peer  3                        stem  3 

bow  4 

kind  2                        plane  3                      tender  3 

brief  2 

lap  4                          post  5                         till  3 

case  » 

last  3                         pupil  2                       utter  2 

date  2 

leave  2                        rail  3                          vault  2 

die  2 

lean  2                         rear  3                        vice  3 

dock  2 

limp  2                        rifle  2                         wise  2 

dredge  2 

long  2                        row  3                        yard  2 
Exercise  6 

Make  short  and  simple  sentences  to  illustrate  the  specified 
number  of  meanings  for  each  of  these  words. 

You  will  notice  that  while  all  the  suggestions  and  ex- 
amples on  vocabulary  have  a  leaning  toward  the  practical, 
they  are  not  narrowly  technical.  They  suggest  the  means 
of  strengthening  the  great  back-bone  of  your  speech — of 
establishing  a  vocabulary  that  will  serve  you  in  any  and  all 
the  affairs  of  life.  Your  technical  or  special  vocabulary 
will  vary  with  the  business  you  actually  take  up.  When  you 
go  into  a  business,  you  should  master  as  quickly  and  thor- 
oughly as  possible  the  terms  that  belong  to  it.  Gather  the 
catalogues  and  the  trade  journals  concerned  with  your  spe- 
cial business ;  read  a  good  business  magazine ;  read  some 
of  the  many  valuable  and  interesting  books  written  in  our 
day  concerning  business— books  which  are  elevating  busi- 
ness to  the  intellectual  rank  of  a  learned  profession.  Lose 
no  opportunity  of  talking  with  experienced  business  men, 


VOCABULARY  33 


especially  those  engaged  in  your  own  line,  and  ask  ques- 
tions as  long  as  you  can  within  the  limits  of  courtesy.  You 
will  find  that  your  technical  vocabulary  will  be  easy  to 
master  and  that  it  will  accrue  very  rapidly. 

To  illustrate  technical  vocabularies  I  append  selections 
from  lists  of  words  that  belong  to  special  businesses.  As 
an  exercise  (or,  more  precisely,  as  a  game),  decide  what 
business  or  what  field  each  vocabulary  belongs  to. 

1.  Column,  beam,  girder,  rivet,  pin,  truss,  arch,  footing,  founda- 
tion, drainage,  plumbing,  fixtures,  lime,  cement,  joining,  ventilation. 

2.  Electrostatic,  resistance,  induction,  magnetic,  direct,  indirect, 
calibration,  voltmeter,  ammeter,  ohmmeter,  potentiometer,  relay. 

3'.  Chassis,  sleeve-valve,  carburetor,  ignition,  magneto,  reseat,  ther- 
mograph, crankshaft,  radiator,  lubrication,  tonneau,  limousine,  trans- 
mission, vibrator. 

4.  Security,  loan,  deposit,  savings,  exchange,  notes,  drafts,  checks, 
discount,  balance,  certified,  clearing-house,  surplus,  reserve,  cashier, 
teller. 

5.  Tariff,  rates,  classification,  bill  of  lading,  carriers,  shipper, 
routing,  way-bill,  consignee,  storage,  overcharge,  inter-road,  absorbed, 
switching,  demurrage,  yard,  report. 

6.  Single-entry,  double-entry,  debit,  credit,  journal,  ledger,  cash 
book,  purchase-book,  sales-book,  posting,  trial-balance,  opening,  clos- 
ing. 

7.  Epic,  dramatic,  lyric,  ode,  elegy,  sonnet,  plot,  scenario,  hexa- 
meter, pentameter,  rhyme,  rhythm,  cesura,  idyl,  romance,  local  color, 
realism,  fiction,  essay. 

8.  Drop-curtain,  foot-light,  wings,  foyer,  balcony,  gallery,  prompt- 
er, manager,  leading  lady,  soubrette,  star,  ingenue,  cue,  author,  pro- 
ducer, understudy,  supernumeraries. 


General  Exercises  in  Business  Composition 

You  will  notice  that  so  far  all  your  exercises  have  taken 
the  form  of  letters  or  speeches;  and  these  are,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  underlying  type-forms  for  all  verbal  communica- 
tion. You  have  something  you  want  to  impart — there 
is  someone  to  whom  you  want  to  impart  it.  If  one  or 
many  are  present,  you  speak  to  them.  If  they  are  absent 
or  scattered,  you  write  to  them ;  your  letter  may  be  a  brief 
note,  a  drama,  a  poem,  a  volume  of  essays,  or  a  learned 
treatise  on  some  technical  subject ;  but  it  may  still  be  said 
to  be  a  highly  developed  and  specialized  letter. 

When  you  write  a  letter  you  have  one  great  advantage : 
You  say  what  you  want  to  say  and  nobody  interrupts  or 
contradicts  or  objects.  If  your  correspondent  does  any 
of  these  things  in  reply,  you  have  the  opportunity  to  think 
it  over  quietly  and  formulate  your  rejoinder. 

But  you  also  lose  a  great  advantage.  If  you  talked  with 
your  correspondent,  you  would  get  suggestions  from  him; 
not  only  would  he  supply  new  ideas ;  his  objections  would 
arouse  your  thought  and  stimulate  your  invention. 

For  this  exercise  you  are  to  write  some  brief  business 
dramas  that  will  in  some  measure  represent  the  give  and 
take  of  an  interview.  The  dramatic  imagination  is  almost 
the  first  requisite  of  a  salesman.  Put  yourself  in  the  place 
of  your  customer,  at  the  same  time  keeping  every  atom  of 
your  own  personality. 

1.  You  are  trying  to  sell  a  man  a  ''Webster's  Secondary 
School  Dictionary"  for  use  in  his  office.  As  any  self- 
respecting  customer  should,  he  is  resisting.    He  says — 

84 


VOCABULARY  §5 


a)    I  have  practically  the  same  book  that  I  bought  ten 
years  ago. 

h)     I  have  a  pocket  dictionary. 

c)     I  prefer  to  invest  all  my  money  for  dictionaries  in 
an  "Unabridged.'' 

Write  out  this  interview — his  objections,  your  replies, 
the  conclusion. 

2.  You  are  salesman  for  a  typewriter  that  has  an  adding- 
machine  attached.  You  go  to  see  a  business  manager,  who 
calls  in  his  bookkeeper. 

Write  out  the  interview,  representing  the  three  persons 
by  at  least  three  speeches  each. 

Write  two  conclusions  to  the  interview : 

a)  They  order  the  typewriter. 

b)  They  conclude  not  to  buy  it. 


CHAPTER  VII 
CLEARNESS 

You  will  have  noticed  as  you  have  gone  on  with  your 
lessons  how  closely  all  your  knowledge  and  practice  hang 
together.  You  will  have  seen  that  each  step  is  a  logical  one, 
and  that  what  you  have  learned  in  one  section  becomes  the 
foundation   and   presupposition   of   the   next. 

So  you  will  realize  that  all  that  you  have  learned  about 
grammatical  correctness,  about  correct  diction,  about  cor- 
rect arrangement,  makes  for  clearness  and  effectiveness. 

You  will  realize  that  when  you  acquire  new  words,  and 
open  up  new  sources  from  which  to  draw  words,  you  are 
working  toward  an  ever-surer,  more  nearly  complete  cor- 
rectness, a  truer  effectiveness. 

Indeed  so  interknit  are  all  the  things  that  go  to  make  up 
a  good  style,  that  there  is  necessarily  much  repetition  and 
cross-reference  in  the  discussion.  It  is  impossible  to  divide 
the  aspects  of  our  study  of  style  into  water-tight  and  fire- 
proof compartments.  To  achieve  correctness  is  in  seven 
sentences  out  of  ten,  especially  in  business  writing,  to 
achieve  clearness;  and  to  achieve  clearness  is  in  almost  as 
many  cases  to  achieve  effectiveness. 

Nevertheless,  there  is,  when  we  have  said  all  the  essential 
things  about  correctness,  a  residuum  of  matter  that  belongs 
to  clearness  as  a  distinct  aspect  of  style;  these  are  the 
things  that  we  shall  consider  in  this  chapter. 

There  are  a  few  general  considerations  v^e  must  touch 
upon  before  we  go  into  details. 

1.  There  is  a  school  of  writers  who  say,  apparently 
under    the    conviction    that    they    are    saying    something, 

86 


CLEARNESS 


87 


* '  Think  clearly  and  you  will  write  and  speak  clearly. ' '  This 
injunction  contains  on  the  face  of  it,  two  fallacies.  One 
is  that  'thinking  clearly"  is  a  simple,  elementary  thing 
that  one  has  only  to  say  and  have  done  with — as  if  one  said 
**Tie  my  shoe'^;  whereas,  clear  thinking  is  the  fruit  of 
study,  the  result  of  effort,  a  compound  of  many  simples. 

The  other  fallacy  comes  of  ignoring  the  psychological 
relation  of  thought  and  expression.  They  are  inter-active 
and  inseparable.  Clear  thinking  is  a  product  of  clear 
writing  quite  as  often  as  clear  writing  is  a  product  of  clear 
thinking.  In  the  process  of  saying  what  you  think,  and 
saying  it  clearly,  avoiding  well-known  obscurities,  proceed- 
ing step  by  step,  choosing  among  many  v^ords  the  one  you 
need — in  this  process  thinking  becomes  clear.  There  are, 
of  course,  other  helps  to  clear  thinking,  but  from  our  point 
of  view  nothing  is  more  helpful  than  the  effort  to  say 
clearly  whatever  you  think. 

2.  The  exhortation  to  brevity  is  not  altogether  well 
considered  as  a  recipe  for  clearness.  Brevity  may  even 
cause  obscurity.  Don't  let  the  fear  of  saying  too  much 
frighten  you  into  saying  too  little.  Write  on  until  you  have 
expressed  your  thought  and  have  shown  it  in  as  many 
aspects  and  as  many  lights  as  are  necessary  to  make  it 
plain. 

It  may  be  that  many  writers  should  at  first  confine  them- 
selves to  short  sentences.  This  practice  tends  to  secure 
unity,  which  is  the  prime  necessity  of  clearness.  Besides, 
the  short  sentence  is  the  form  in  which  a  young  and  less 
experienced  writer  thinks.  But  he  should  use  enough 
of  them  to  make  his  meaning  clear.  And  quite  naturally, 
as  a  writer  grows  more  experienced,  as  he  handles  more 
subtle  phases  of  his  thought,  and  treats  more  complicated 
subjects,  his  sentences  tend  to  become  longer  and  less 
simple  in  structure.    But  a  long  and  complex  or  compound 


88  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

sentence  may  be  entirely  clear,  if  one  takes  the  proper 
precautions. 

3.  There  are  similar  objections  to  the  unqualified 
direction,  ' '  Be  simple, "  as  a  recipe  for  clearness.  We  might 
imitate  Dante 's  inscription  and  say,  ' '  Be  simple ;  evermore 
be  simple;  be  not  too  simple."  Be  just  as  simple  as  you 
can  be,  and  still  be  precise.  Don't  translate  technical 
terms  into  prattle.  Don't  turn  your  closely  reasoned 
thought  into  babble. 

There  are  three  things  you  must  have  in  mind  in  this 
connection. 

1.  Try  to  know  your  audience  or  your  readers  well 
enough  to  take  them  on  their  own  ground.  But  you  don't 
want  to  leave  them  on  their  own  ground ;  you  want  to  move 
them  on  to  your  ground.  So  you  must  explain  your  terms 
to  them,  and  lead  them  ultimately  to  think  in  your  terms. 

2.  You  must  know  yourself  and  be  loyal  to  your  own 
best  thinking.  Make  your  thought  clear.  Don't  be  simple 
at  the  expense  of  suppressing  the  best  side  of  your  thought. 

3.  You  must  know  your  subject,  and  to  this  you  owe 
your  first  loyalty.  Don't  betray  it  by  translating  it  into 
expression  that  does  not  represent  it.  Use  its  technical 
terms  when  they  are  needed.  Define  and  illustrate  them  if 
need  be,  but  don't  think  you  have  gained  in  clearness  by 
losing  in  precision.  In  the  long  run  you  have  gained  noth- 
ing by  substituting  for  the  good  terms  noun  and  verh  the 
idle  paraphrases  name-word  and  action-word. 

Exercise  1 

A  quiz  on  the  foregoing  discussion. 

1.  State  in  your  own  words  the  interrelations  of  correctness, 
clearness,  and  effectiveness. 

2.  Why  are  the  three  specially  closely  related  in  business  writing? 


CLEARNESS  gQ 


3.  What  are  the  fallacies  in  the  injunction,  "Think  clearly,  and 
you  will  write  clearly?" 

4.  Why  is  the  converse  of  this  injunction  often  true? 

5.  What  qualifications  would  you  offer  to  the  injunction,  "Be 
brief,"  as  connected  with  clearness? 

6.  What  qualifications  of  the  direction,  "Be  simple,"  would  you 
make  as  concerning  clearness? 

7.  What  are  the  three  loyalties  you  ought  to  feel  in  your  attempt 
to  be  clear?     Which  is  the  dominating  loyalty? 

There  are  certain  classes  of  words,  certain  kinds  of 
phrases,  and  certain  types  of  sentences  in  the  use  of  which 
we  are  especially  apt  to  fail  to  be  clear.  It  is  well  to 
safeguard  ourselves  at  these  points. 

1.  Reference  words. — Much  of  the  obscurity  that  we 
notice  in  ordinary  writing  arises  from  the  wrong  choice  and 
inexact  placing  of  pronouns. 

1.  Much  confusion  arises  when  you  fail  to  make  clear  to 
what  noun  your  pronoun  refers  as  its  antecedent.  For 
example :  * '  The  operator  told  him  his  watch  was  wrong. ' ' 
Whose  watch?  As  the  sentence  stands  it  is  impossible 
to  tell ;  yet  it  might  be  important  to  know.  Often  the  only 
way  to  remove  this  obscurity  is  to  change  entirely  the  form 
of  the  sentence:  *'The  operator  said,  'Your  watch  is 
wrong'  "  or  ''The  operator  said,  'My  watch  is  wrong,'  " 
according  to  your  meaning. 

Study  the  following  sentence  and  its  several  possible 
reconstructions. 

She  asked  the  forewoman  if  she  could  go  and  she  said  she  thought 
she  ought  not  to  go. 

1.  She  asked  the  forewoman  if  she  could  go  and  the  forewoman 
said,  "I  think  you  ought  not  to  go." 

2.  She  asked  the  forewoman  if  she  could  go  and  the  forewoman 
said,  "I  think  I  ought  not  to  go." 

3.  She  said  to  the  forewoman,  "Can  you  go?  I  think  you  ought 
not  to  go." 


90  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

4.  She  said  to  the  forewoman,  "May  I  go?  but  I  think  I  ought 
not  to  go." 

2.  The  pronoun  it  is  especially  likely  to  cause  confusion 
of  this  kind,  because  it  has  not  only  its  primary  use  of 
standing  for  any  neuter  noun,  but  also  what  is  known  as 
the  indefinite  reference ;  as, 

1.  It  is  good  to  learn  habits  of  thrift. 

2.  It  is  now  a  month  since  I  came. 

The  abuse  of  this  indefinite  reference  must  be  guarded 
against : 

It  doesn't  tell  much  about  spelling  in  this  book. 

It  is  better  to  say — 

This  book  doesn't  tell  much  about  spelling. 

The  same  caution  applies  to  they  in  its  indefinite 
reference : 

1.  They  mine  a  great  deal  of  tungsten  in  Colorado. 

2.  They  don't  have  house-flies  in  England. 

Say  rather — 

1.  A  great  deal  of  tungsten  is  mined  in  Colorado. 

2.  In  England  there  are  no  house-flies. 

3.  The  use  of  it  to  refer  to  some  process  or  idea  not 
named  but  only  shadowed  forth,  should  be  carefully 
avoided.  Let  it  be  your  rule  always  to  supply  some  one 
word  to  serve  as  an  antecedent  for  your  pronoun.  Here 
are  examples  of  this  obscurity : 

Your  copy  should  be  revised  three  or  four  times  if  it  be  possible. 

Say,  *'if  such  revision  be  possible." 

The  manager  wants  me  to  become  assistant  engineer,  but  it  does 
not  attract  me. 

You  can  say — 

The  manager  wants  me  to  become  assistant  engineer,  but  the  work 
does  not  attract  me. 

The  manager  wants  me  to  take  the  work  of  assistant  engineer, 
but  it  does  not  attract  me. 


CLEARNESS  91 

I  heard  a  curious  sound  in  the  next  room,  and  found  that  it  was 
Hobbs  rehearsing  his  speech. 

You  can  say — 

I  heard  a  curious  sound  in  the  next  room,  and  found  that  it  came 
from  Hobbs  who  was  rehearsing  his  speech. 

4.  Precisely  the  same  cautions  and  the  same  method  of 
correction  apply  to  the  vague  use  of  this,  that,  and  the 
relatives  who  and  which  as  reference  words. 

Exercise  2 

Correct  the  following  sentences.  Revise  in  any  way 
that  seems  necessary,  so  as  to  make  clear  and  definite  the 
vague  or  ambiguous  reference  of  the  italicized  words : 

1.  The  detective  told  him  his  life  was  in  danger. 

2.  Our  customer  told  the  secretary  he  did  not  know  the  address 
he  wanted. 

3.  The  same  is  true  of  the  liquor  habit;  they  drink  it  because 
they  can  not  give  it  up. 

4.  The  run-about  drew  up  at  the  curb,  and  I  noticed  that  it  was 
Mr.  Bruce. 

5.  If  a  rabbit's  foot  is  to  be  good  as  a  charm,  it  must  be  the  left 
hind  foot,  and  it  must  be  caught  at  midnight  in  the  grave-yard. 

6.  They  have  almost  doubled  their  office  force,  and  it  has  quite 
doubled  their  expenses. 

7.  It  says  in  the  "Tribune"  that  the  marines  went  ashore  at 
Vera  Cruz. 

8.  They  are  urging  all  their  employees  to  study,  which  greatly 
increases  their  efficiency. 

9.  He  falsified  his  tax  schedule,  which  is  a  dishonorable  thing 
to  do. 

10.  As  the  boat  lay  at  the  pier,  it  sounded  like  a  violent  wind- 
storm. 

11.  Gambling  is  permitted  in  this  hotel,  which  is  true  of  many 
other  places. 

12.  Interest  may  be  figured  easily  for  the  rate  of  six  per  cent, 
and  this  applies  to  all  amounts  and  to  all  rates,  by  simple  cancella- 
tion. 


92  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

13.  Though  the  firm  does  business  in  South  America  it  has  no  one 
who  knows  foreign  languages,  and  they  have  to  send  them  out  to  a 
woman  who  translates  them  at  twenty-five  cents  apiece. 

14.  What  is  the  use  of  finding  the  North  Pole?  Of  course  it  is 
of  no  use  commercially. 

15.  The  world  owes  you  success  if  you  demand  it — it  owes  you 
nothing  if  you  do  not. 

16.  I  have  never  had  a  serious  accident  while  traveling,  and  I 
attribute  this  to  the  care  I  have  taken. 

17.  They  have  mines  in  Cornwall  running  far  out  under  the  sea. 

5.  Many  persons,  including  some  pretty  good  writers, 
have  trouble  with  what  we  call  the  ''and  which"  con- 
struction. This  mistake  is  so  common  that  I  shall  give  what 
may  seem  an  undue  amount  of  space  to  it.    Notice  these: 

1.  Mr.  Young,  president  of  the  company,  and  who  is  a  friend  of 
Olson's  family,  offered  him  a  place. 

2.  He  lives  in  Orange,  a  beautiful  town,  and  which  is  really  a 
suburb  of  New  York. 

3.  Jane  Addams,  founder  of  Hull  House  in  Chicago,  and  who  is 
known  all  over  the  world,  is  promoting  the  cause. 

4.  The  cut-out  folder  is  in  the  shape  of  a  barrel,  bearing  the 
company's  trade-marked  label  printed  in  three  colors,  and  which 
appeared  at  the  head  of  fifteen  of  the  sixteen  pages  of  the  folder. 

The  foregoing  sentences  are  all  incorrect.  You  can  say 
and  who,  mid  which,  and  a7id  whom,  only  when  you  have 
previously  said  who,  which,  or  whom  in  the  same  sentence. 
Thus: 

1.  Mr.  Young,  who  is  president  of  the  company,  and  who  is  a 
friend  of  Olson's  family,  offered  him  a  place. 

2.  He  lives  in  Orange,  which  is  a  beautiful  town,  and  which  is 
really  a  suburb  of  New  York. 

3.  Jane  Addams,  who  is  the  founder  of  Hull  House,  and  who  is 
known  all  over  the  world,  is  promoting  the  cause. 

4.  The  cut-out  folder  is  in  the  shape  of  a  barrel  bearing  the  com- 
pany's  trade-marked  label,  which  is  printed  in  three  colors,  and  which 
stands  at  the  head  of  fifteen  of  the  sixteen  pages  of  the  folder. 

6.  The  use  of  former  and  latter  as  pronouns  and  ref- 


CLEARNESS  93 


erence  words,  is  beset  with  so  many  dangers  that  one  is 
tempted  to  advise  inexperienced  writers  to  avoid  it  alto- 
gether.   Notice  these : 

1.  He  turned  from  Charlie  to  the  man  in  the  straw  hat  and  play- 
fully knocked  the  latter  off  his  head. 

2.  As  Olson  came  up  in  the  elevator  he  met  Hobbs  and  Morton,  a 
bookkeeper  for  Holt  &  Eaton,  and  exchanged  a  few  words  with  the 
latter. 

3.  Hobbs  came  to  our  office  and  asked  to  see  Mr.  Bruce;  Olson  met 
him  in  the  waiting  room  and  the  former  made  an  engagement  for 
tomorrow. 

The  skillful  use  of  reference  words  does  two  things: 
(1)  It  saves  frequent  repetition  of  the  main  word;  (2)  it 
connects  one  sentence  with  another,  by  bringing  forward 
an  idea  from  the  last  sentence  into  the  new  one.  In  this 
way  a  paragraph  is  often  knit  together  into  a  clear  whole 
by  reference  words. 

Exercise  3 
Study  with  care,  and  memorize  Lincoln's  '* Gettysburg 
Address."     Notice  the  perfect  clearness  which  is  secured 
largely  by  the  use  of  the  reference  words  which  I  have 
italicized : 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  upon  this 
continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the 
proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 

Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that 
nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  cm  long  endure. 
We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that  war.  We  have  come  to 
dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who 
here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fit- 
ting and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

But  in  a  larger  sense  we  can  not  dedicate,  we  can  not  consecrate, 
we  can  not  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living  and  dead, 
who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above  our  poor  power  to 
add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note  nor  long  remember  what 
we  say  here;  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.    It  is  for 


94  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work 
which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is 
rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before 
us:  That  from  these  honored  dead  we  may  take  increased  devotion 
to  that  cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion; 
that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in 
vain;  that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  free- 
dom; and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth. 

2.  Repetition. — Go  through  the  address  given  above 
and  study  the  repetitions.  You  will  see  that  they  help  the 
clearness  of  the  sentences  in  which  they  stand,  and  are 
indispensable  to  the  clearness  of  the  paragraph  as  a  whole. 

Don't  be  afraid  of  repetitions  when  they  seem  necessary 
to  clearness.  Don't,  above  all  things,  imitate  the  method 
of  the  sport  reporter  and  editor  in  inventing  tedious  and 
stupid  circumlocutions  in  order  to  avoid  the  frequent  use  of 
the  same  term. 

Don't  seek  repetition,  but  above  all,  don't  evade  it. 

3.  Ellipsis  or  the  leaving  out  of  words. — It  often  pro- 
duces a  desirable  effect  to  omit  such  words  as  can  certainly 
be  supplied  silently  from  the  context.    For  example ; 

1.  Father  was  arrayed  against  son,  brother  against  brother. 

2.  If  you  are  pleased  with  the  books,  send  us  three  dollars;  if  not, 
return  them  at  our  expense. 

But  if  the  words  are  not  easily  supplied  from  the  con- 
text, or  if  for  any  other  reason  their  omission  produces 
confusion,  write  out  the  full  expression. 

Exercise  4 

In  the  following  sentences,  supply  the  needed  words.  If 
a  sentence  can  be  rendered  in  two  ways,  give  both.  The 
caret  shows  where  the  missing  words  are  to  be  supplied. 

1.  Dayton  is  nearer  to  Pittsburg  than  A  Chicago. 

2.  Although  A  a  drunkard  I  can  not  help  admiring  his  ability. 


CLEARNESS  95 

3.  Our  rules  are  the  same  as  A  any  other  office. 

4.  The  love  of  bargaining  comes  not  by  education  but  /\  instinct. 

5.  Our  delegate  insisted  that  the  measure  was  unjust  and  /\  was 
opposed  to  the  organization  of  labor. 

6.  The  study  of  grammar  did  not  seem  to  him  to  have  any  prac- 
tical bearing  as  A  arithmetic,  drawing,  and  geography. 

7.  While  A  still  a  child,  my  father  taught  me  the  principles  of 
personal  independence. 

8.  There  were  three  ready  to  start — a  boy  on  a  big  bay,  A  a 
little  Indian  pony,  and  Maud. 

9.  As  a  man  he  is  small,  as  an  inventor  and  originator  A  great. 

10.  They  value  Olson  more  than  A  you. 

11.  They  value  Olson  more  than  you  A- 

12.  Common  stock  represents  ownership,  but  carries  no  special 
privileges  such  as  preferred  stock  A« 

4.  Vagueness  in  the  use  of  participles. — This  is  a  com- 
mon and  fruitful  source  of  obscurity.  It  has  been  treated 
with  sufficient  fulness  under  correct  arrangement  (Chapter 
V,  Sections). 

5.  Matching  grammatical  parts. — ^When  you  are  using 
two  or  more  ideas  or  objects  in  a  series,  or  are  comparing 
them,  word  them  so  that  noun  answers  to  noun,  verb  to 
verb,  etc.  This  wording  alike  of  like  ideas  is  a  great  help 
to  clearness. 

Study  the  following  to  make  the  principle  clear : 

1.  We  have  decided  to  take  on  the  new  salesman,  and  on  giving 
him  a  free  hand. 

Say  either  ''on  taking  on"  or  "to  give." 

2.  He  fell  off  the  motorcycle  and  sprained  his  ankle,  but  saving 
his  basket  of  eggs. 

Say- 

He  fell  off  the  motorcycle,  spraining  his  ankle,  but  saving  his 
basket  of  eggs. 

Or 

He  fell  off  the  motorcycle  and  sprained  his  ankle,  but  saved  his 
basket  of  eggs. 


96  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

Exercise  5 

Change  the  following  sentences  so  as  to  match  the  cor- 
responding grammatical  parts. 

1.  She  left  the  room  in  a  rage,  her  eyes  blazing,  and  slamming  the 
door  after  her. 

2.  The  men  were  in  bad  condition  and  a  poor  game  was  played. 

3.  The  travelers  preferred  sailing  on  the  "Arabic"  and  to  return 
on  the  "Celtic." 

4.  These  rooms  are  well  ventilated  and  with  abundance  of  light. 

5.  He  went  to  see  what  he  could  do  for  the  injured  man,  and 
carrying  a  few  remedies  with  him. 

6.  When  I  went  back  home,  I  was  surprised  to  see  how  small  the 
place  was,  and  that  it  seemed  to  have  grown  ugly. 

6.  Uniform  structure  in  your  sentence. — ^Very  similar 
to  the  principle  of  matched  grammatical  form  is  that  of 
keeping,  throughout  the  sentence,  the  structure  you  start 
with.  Some  writers,  especially  if  they  have  a  long  or  a 
complex  subject,  seem  to  lose  sight  of  what  they  mean 
to  say  when  the  subject  or  even  some  part  of  the  subject 
is  written,  and  to  finish  the  sentence  in  some  quite  incon- 
gruous way.    To  make  this  clear,  study  the  following : 

1.  It  was  wonderful  to  see  how  fast  they  worked  with  the  new 
machines  that  almost  seemed  to  have  human  intelligence,  and  their 
interest  and  enthusiasm  for  the  results. 

2.  The  training  to  obey  without  dispute,  to  be  punctual  and  re- 
spectful are  things  in  which  the  American  boy  is  lacking. 

3.  The  first  thing  I  expect  my  course  in  Business  English  to  do 
for  me  is  to  become  an  expert  stenographer. 

4.  The  dimensions  of  the  room  are  forty  feet  long  and  twenty  feet 
wide. 

5.  Our  house  being  situated  close  to  the  golf  links,  makes  it  con- 
venient for  us  to  reach  it. 

6.  If  you  are  selling,  for  example,  candy,  you  can  make  a  differ- 
ence in  your  mode  of  distribution ;  by  the  first  mode,  it  is  shoveled 
out  of  a  bin  in  a  tin  scoop,  weigh  it  on  open  scales  and  dump  it  into  a 
brown  paper  bag;  by  the  second,  it  is  sold  in  neat,  white  boxes  of 


CLEARNESS 


97 


standard  weight  and  lined  with  oiled  paper;  by  the  third,  you  wrap 
each  piece  in  tinfoil  and  the  boxes  are  packed  in  layers. 

Exercise  6 

Revise  the  foregoing  sentences,  making  the  structure  uni- 
form throughout  each. 

7.  Connecting  words. — Conjunctions  and  all  connecting 
words  and  phrases  are  very  important  for  clearness.  You 
will  be  surprised  to  find  how  much  of  your  thinking  is 
carried  along  in  these  words,  and  how  much  confusion  and 
misunderstanding  can  arise  from  the  use  of  the  wrong 
connective.  On  the  other  hand,  you  will  be  delighted  to 
find  how  beautifully  these  little  words  knit  up  your 
thoughts,  and  what  interesting  shades  of  thought  may  be 
expressed  by  them. 

Here  is  a  partial  list  of  connecting  or  conjunctive  words 
i:nd  phrases: 


and 

as 

whereas 

or 

as  if 

that 

but 

though 

besides 

either — or 

although 

for 

neither — nor 

because 

hence. 

whether — or 

since 

again 

both — and 

lest 

unless 

not  only — but  also 

so  that 

moreover 

so 

in   order  that 

however 

thus 

on  the  one  hand — 

therefore 

consequently 

on  the  other  hand 

finally 

accordingly 

for  example 

Now  you  must  not  use  connecting  words  merely  for  the 
sake  of  using  them,  nor  must  you  vary  them  simply  for  the 
sake  of  varying  them.  They  are  an  essential  part  of  your 
thinking  and  must  be  considered  as  to  their  use  and  mean- 
ing with  as  much  care  as  any  other  word  in  your  paragraph. 
You  may  write  a  long  paragraph  with  scarcely  a  connecting 


98  ESSENTIALS   OF   BUSINESS   ENGLISH 

word  in  it,  and  it  will  be  clear,  because  the  thoughts  are  so 
well  arranged  that  they  need  no  connecting.  Study  this 
paragraph  as  an  example  of  writing  that  dispenses  with 
connectives. 

Business  should  be,  and  to  some  extent  already  is,  one  of  the 
professions.  The  once  meager  list  of  the  learned  professions  is  being 
constantly  enlarged.  Engineering  in  its  many  branches  already  takes 
rank  beside  law,  medicine,  and  theology.  Forestry  and  scientific 
agriculture  are  securing  places  of  honor.  The  new  professions  of 
manufacturing,  of  merchandising,  of  transportation,  and  of  finance 
must  soon  gain  recognition.  The  establishment  of  business  schools 
in  our  universities  is  a  manifestation  of  the  modern  conception  of 
business. — ^Brandeis,  "Business  a  Profession." 

Study  the  following  in  its  use  of  connectives,  which  I 
have  italicized. 

In  the  field  of  modern  business,  so  rich  in  opportunity  for  the 
exercise  of  man's  finest  and  most  varied  mental  faculties  and  moral 
qualities,  mere  money-making  can  not  be  regarded  as  the  legitimate 
end.  Neither  can  mere  bulk  or  power  be  admitted  as  a  worthy  ambi- 
tion. Nor  can  a  man  nobly  mindful  of  his  serious  responsibilities  to 
society  view  business  as  a  game;  since  with  the  conduct  of  business 
human  happiness  or  misery  is  inextricably  interwoven. — ^Brandeis, 
"Business  a  Profession." 

Turn  back  to  Lincoln's  ''Gettysburg  Address,''  and  study 
in  it  the  connectives  of  all  kiads. 

The  connecting  words  that  most  inexperienced  writers 
and  speakers  overwork  and  consequently  misuse  are  and,  so, 
hut,  and  thus. 

All  that  can  be  done  is  to  warn  you — 

1.  To  be  careful  to  mean  thus  when  you  say  thus.  Never 
use  it  because  you  need  some  word  to  introduce  a  sentence. 
Thus  has  its  own  distinct  value  which  must  be  observed. 

2.  To  abandon  so  as  a  mere  connective.  It  is  practically 
always  wrong  when  used  in  that  way.  Word  your  sentences 
so  as  to  avoid  using  it  until  you  are  sure  of  its  exact  mean- 
ing and  value. 


CLEARNESS  99 


3.  To  use,  in  the  first  place,  as  few  and^s  as  possible. 
Cure  yourself  of  the  fatal  an<i-habit,  especially  in  speaking  j 
and,  in  the  second  place,  be  sure  you  mean  and  when 
you  say  a7id.  And  is  the  conjunction  of  kinship,  of  similar- 
ity, of  harmony. 

4.  To  take  the  same  precautions  for  hut,  which  is  the 
conjunction  of  contrast  and  of  disagreement. 

Study  the  following  sentences  for  the  use  of  the  com- 
moner connectives.  Study  the  meaning  of  each,  and  decide 
which  of  them  are  incorrect ;  rewrite  the  sentences  correctly : 

1.  Olson  is  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  hut  his  learning  is  the  wonder 
of  his  employers. 

2.  Olson  is  a  graduate  of  Harvard  and  his  learning  is  the  vt^on- 
der  of  his  employers. 

3.  Olson  had  only  a  grammar-school  education  and  his  learning 
is  astonishing. 

4.  Olson  had  only  a  grammar  school  education  J)ut  his  learning 
is  astonishing. 

5.  I  called  up  his  house  and  found  that  he  had  already  left  for 
Boston. 

6.  I  called  to  take  leave  of  him,  hut  found  that  he  had  already 
left  for  Boston. 

7.  He  had  twenty  pairs  of  unsalable  shoes  left  on  his  shelves. 
Thus  we  see  the  folly  of  unwise  buying. 

8.  Thomas  Edison  was  born  in  1847.  Thus  we  see  that  in  1900 
he  was  53  years  of  age. 

9.  I  was  tired  so  we  sat  down  on  the  bench;  pretty  soon  it  began 
to  rain  so  we  hurried  to  the  station;  there  was  no  train  for  an  hour 
so  we  took  the  electric  back  to  town. 

8.  The  use  of  examples  and  specific  instances. — The  lib- 
eral and  accurate  use  of  examples  and  specific  instances 
is  perhaps  the  most  certain  single  aid  to  clearness.  You 
state  your  law  or  your  principle  or  your  general  truth; 
but  it  is  the  anecdote,  the  individual  case,  the  story  of  the 
personal  experience  that  drives  it  home  and  makes  it 
finalty  clear.    For  example : 


100 


ESSENTIALS   OF  BUSINESS   ENGLISH 


1.  The  man  and  the  job  must  fit;  a  long-legged  man  makes  a 
good  apple-picker,  but  a  poor  shoveler. 

2.  Household  appliances  are  multiplying  very  rapidly — every 
minute  a  new  egg-heater  is  born. 

3.  The  little  word  of  three  letters — net — has  in  recent  years  be- 
come the  most  important  word  in  the  vocabulary  of  business.  Net 
means  not  how  much  money  you  take  in,  but  how  much  you  have 
left.  If  you  take  in  three  million  dollars  and  pay  out  the  same  you 
have  no  net  at  all.  It  is  better  to  take  in  one  dollar  and  have  ten 
cents  left  than  to  take  in  ten  dollars  and  have  only  five  cents  left. 

4.  An  extensive  business  transaction  may  be  conducted  without 
using  a  dollar  of  money:  Suppose  you  owe  Brown  a  hundred  dol- 
lars. At  the  same  time  Brown  owes  White  a  hundred  dollars.  Brown 
may  give  White  an  order  on  you.  With  this  order,  White  may  pay 
his  doctor.  The  doctor,  having  bought  a  bill  of  goods  from  you,  may 
pay  you  with  this  order.  You  destroy  the  "note."  Thus  four  actual 
transactions  have  taken  place  without  the  use  of  any  money. 

5.  There  seems  to  be  no  end  to  the  methods  that  are  being  con- 
ceived to  trade-mark  this,  that,  and  the  other  thing.  Ere  long  we 
may  refuse  to  eat  a  lamh-chop  unless  it  carries  a  tag  showing  that 
it  is  our  favorite  brand,  or  a  slice  of  roast  heef  unless  it  has  "the 
mark  on  the  selvage." 

6.  Labor  was  the  first  price,  the  original  purchase  money  that 
was  paid  for  all  things.  If  among  a  nation  of  hunters,  for  example,  it 
usually  costs  twice  the  labor  to  kill  a  beaver  that  it  does  to  kill  a 
deer,  one  heaver  would  naturally  be  worth,  or  exchange  for,  two  deer. 

9.  Comparisons. — ^You  can  often  add  to  the  clearness  of 
your  statement  by  means  of  likeness  or  contrast.  By  tell- 
ing your  readers  or  hearers  what  a  thing  is  not,  or  to  what 
it  is  diametrically  opposed,  you  can  sometimes  give  a  clearer 
idea  of  what  it  is.  And  it  is  often  possible  to  increase  the 
clearness  of  your  statement  by  drawing  in  likenesses  and 
parallels  from  other  fields. 

Study  the  following  paragraphs  which  exemplify  the 
use  both  of  likeness  and  of  contrast. 

1.  Efficiency  does  not  lie  in  ceaseless,  intense  mental  and  physical 
action,  in  hustle  and  bustle,  in  noise  and  excitement.  Some  men  are 
like  tugboats,  tossed  about  on  the  waves,  constantly  darting  here  and 


CLEARNESI3 


101 


there,  emitting  clouds  of  smoke,  and  makijig  «,  t^iyific  fde^qt^^,  ^iey 
seem  to  be  tremendously  active.  With  them;  there  is  ''always  some- 
thing doing."  But  the  tugboat  never  gets  anywhere  in  particular. 
For  all  its  strenuousness,  it  always  ties  up  at  the  same  dock  at  night. 
Other  men  are  like  ocean  liners — they  proceed  calmly,  quietly,  and 
with  no  show  of  effort.  Ocean  liners  move  according  to  plans  laid  out 
months  in  advance.  Their  time  is  scheduled  accurately  and  in  detail. 
They  proceed  toward  a  definite  port,  irrespective  of  wind  or  wave. 
Although  they  make  far  less  noise,  they  run  more  rapidly  than  the 
tugboat  and  they  arrive  at  their  destined  port  having  sailed  every 
moment  according  to  chart  and  compass,  steering  their  course  by  the 
stars. 

2.  Every  busy  man  should  learn  the  value  of  relaxation  and 
repose.  Watch  an  amateur  climb  a  rope.  He  may  be  very  strong 
in  the  arms,  but  he  kicks,  jerks,  breathes  hard,  and  lunges,  expending 
so  much  energy  unnecessarily  that  he  usually  stops  after  having 
climbed  a  few  feet.  When  a  trained  gymnast  does  the  same  thing,  his 
whole  body  hangs  quiet  and  relaxed;  his  breathing  is  not  hurried; 
smoothly  and  rhythmically  without  lost  motion  or  the  waste  of 
an  ounce  of  energy  he  glides  up  the  rope.  There  is  the  same  differ- 
ence between  the  nervous,  hurried  man  and  the  man  who  has  trained 
himself  in  relaxation  and  control. 

10.  Clearness  in  the  sentence  structure. — In  the  section 
on  the  arrangement  of  your  matter  in  sentences  (Chapter 
V,  Section  6)  sufficient  warning  is  given  against  the  carry- 
all sentence — the  dunnage-bag  of  language — into  which 
you  thrust  everything  that  it  will  hold. 

It  is  true  that  the  short  sentence  is  more  likely  to  secure 
unity,  but  the  jerky  effect  of  innumerable  short  sentences, 
especially  in  a  speech,  is  unfortunate.  Besides,  the  arrange- 
ment of  all  your  thoughts  in  short  simple  sentences  does 
not  indicate  the  proper  relation  of  your  thoughts,  some  of 
which  are  important,  and  some  of  which,  though  perhaps 
not  unimportant,  are  subordinate  to  your  main  thought. 
A  sentence  to  be  clear  should  show  the  proper  subordination 
of  thought.    A  sentence  should  express  but  one  complete 


102  ESSEOT.I^LS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

tnoaglif;-trTie,  buv.  it  should  completely  express  the  thought, 
and  not  call  in  a  neighbor  sentence  to  help  it  out. 

Study  the  following  groups.  In  each  there  are  a  leading 
thought  and  one  or  more  subordinate  thoughts.  In  a  good, 
clear  sentence  the  leading  thought  is  given  the  principal 
place  with  the  main  subject  and  predicate  of  the  sentence 
to  express  it,  while  the  subordinate  thoughts  are  thrown 
in,  in  the  shape  of  clauses  and  phrases.  Decide  which  of 
these  sentences  best  show  the  relation  of  the  thought. 

1.  The  tongue  is  a  sharp-edged  tool.  It  grows  sharper  with  con- 
stant use. 

The  tongue  is  a  sharp-edged  tool  that  grows  sharper  with  con- 
stant use. 

The  tongue  is  a  sharp-edged  tool,  and  it  grows  sharper  with 
constant  use. 

The  tongue  grows  sharper  with  constant  use,  being  the  only 
sharp-edged  tool  that  does. 

2.  I  could  not  sleep.    I  decided  I  would  spend  the  time  studying. 
I  could  not  sleep,  so  I  decided  to  spend  the  time  studying. 

I  spent  the  time  studying,  since  I  could  not  sleep. 
Being  unable  to  sleep,  I  studied. 

3.  He  was  a  man  of  experience  and  national  reputation.  He 
did  not  go  begging  for  a  job.  He  was  actually  able  to  choose  his 
employer. 

Since  he  was  a  man  of  experience  and  national  reputation, 
he  did  not  go  begging  for  a  job  but  was  able  to  choose  his  employer. 

So  far  from  going  begging  for  a  job  he  was  actually  able  to 
choose  his  employer,  since  he  was  a  man  of  experience  and  national 
reputation. 

He  was  actually  able  to  choose  his  employer,  because,  being 
a  man  of  experience  and  national  reputation,  he  did  not  have  to  go 
begging  for  a  job. 

11.  Clearness  in  the  paragraph. — This  topic  has  been 
almost  completely  forestalled  in  another  section  (Chapter 
V,  Section  8).  Your  attention  is  called  to  it  here  only  in 
order  to  emphasize  its  importance.    The  following  is  a  sum- 


CLEARNESS  103 

mary  of  the  practice  that  secures  clearness  in  the  para- 
graph : 

1.  The  clear  statement  of  the  topic  of  the  paragraph  in 
a  conspicuous  place  either  at  the  beginning  or  at  the  end, 
or,  in  a  certain  type  of  paragraph,  in  both  these  places. 

2.  The  amplification  of  this  topic : 

a)    By  repetition  and  explanation. 

h)    By  examples,  specific  instances,  and  illustrations. 

3.  The  skillful  use  of  connecting  and  reference  words. 

4.  The  logical  arrangement  of  the  sentences  within  the 
paragraph. 


General  Exercises  in  Business  Composition 

You  will  have  noticed  that  these  exercises  interspersed 
among  the  more  technical  and  detailed  matters  of  cor- 
rectness, clearness,  etc.,  have  been  for  the  most  part 
discipline  in  the  thinking  out  of  material.  The  subjects 
have  been  suggested,  and  the  main  steps  or  items  indi- 
cated. In  each  exercise  you  have  been  asked  for  one  or 
more  letters  and  a  speech. 

For  this  lesson  you  are  to  analyze  the  topics  yourself: 

1.  Make  an  outline  for  four  paragraphs  on  the  subject: 
— How  a  Business  Woman  Should  Dress.  Let  the  outline 
consist  of  the  topic-sentences  of  the  paragraphs. 

Write  out  the  four  paragraphs,  giving  especial  atten- 
tion to  illustrative  detail.  Each  paragraph  should  consist 
of  at  least  fifty  words. 

2.  Follow  the  same  process  with  the  following  topics: 

a)  The  effect  of  modern  advertising  on  the  cost  of 
living. 

h)  How  and  where  I  should  advertise  a  new  toilet  soap 
of  very  fine  quality. 

c)  Trade-names  for  the  following  articles : 
i.  A  new  automobile  lubricator, 
ii.  A  new  golf  ball, 
iii.  A  new  variety  of  durable  hosiery. 
iv.  A  new  variety  of  potted  meat,  ham,  tongue,  or 
chicken. 
Explain  and  define  each  trade-name  in  a  paragraph  of 
at  least  fifty  words. 


104 


CHAPTER  VIII 

EFFECTIVENESS 

Effectiveness  seems  to  be  the  best  word  to  name  the  qual- 
ity, or  the  kind  of  qualities,  that  we  shall  discuss  in  this 
chapter ;  though  it  must  be  confessed  that  it  does  not  quite 
adequately  name  it.  Other  words  that  we  might  use  are 
emphasis,  force,  strength;  two  words  that  we  should  not 
offer,  though  in  the  business  magazines  they  seem  to  be  used 
for  this  very-  quality,  are  punch  and  pull.  It  is  not 
within  our  field  to  take  up  those  aspects  of  writing,  those 
devices  of  expression,  those  varieties  of  subject-matter  that 
persuade  a  customer  to  buy  a  specific  article ;  one  must  go 
to  a  school  for  salesmen  or  advertisers  to  learn  these  tech- 
nical, industrial  points.  "We  must  here  discuss  those  things 
that  produce  effectiveness  in  all  or  any  writing — confining 
ourselves,  as  we  are  doing  throughout  this  book,  to  the 
•practical  side  of  expression. 

There  are  a  great  many  devices  designed  to  secure  effec- 
tiveness with  which  we  have  nothing  to  do  more  than  to 
note  them.  They  are,  indeed,  only  mechanical  contrivances 
and  are  no  more  concerned  with  writing  than  is  the  style 
of  type  in  which  your  book  is  printed,  or  the  color  of  the 
cloth  in  which  it  is  bound. 

For  instance,  there  is  the  opening  out  of  the  text  into  sec- 
tions falsely  called  paragraphs.  It  is  the  fashion  in  much 
business  writing,  especially  advertisements  and  form-let- 
ters, to  give  to  the  larger  number  of  the  statements — some- 
times to  every  statement — whatever  advantage  may  come 

105 


106  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

from  standing  alone.  It  is  therefore  printed  alone,  indented 
as  if  it  were  a  paragraph.  But  no  matter  how  it  is  printed, 
it  is  not  a  paragraph,  unless  it  is  a  distinct  and  complete 
step  in  the  thinking.  It  is  a  pity  that  this  practice  is  spread- 
ing, because  it  tends  to  confuse  students  as  to  what  a  true 
paragraph  is.  And  to  confuse  a  student  on  this  point  is 
to  confuse  him  on  the  very  central  matter  of  his  thinking 
and  writing. 

Below  you  will  find  sections  of  a  form-letter  showing 
these  false  paragraphs.  The  word  false  is  not  used  in  con- 
demnation of  this  manner  of  printing.  The  point  is  that 
the  sections  are  not  real  paragraphs,  but  mere  mechanical 
divisions  of  the  matter,  and  so  do  not  come  into  our  dis- 
cussion of  effectiveness. 

Sit  down  and  plan  to  be  something  and  he  it.  We  can't  all  be 
Napoleons,  or  Lincolns,  or  Washingtons.    Any  one  can  he  something. 

You  may  not  have  the  genius  of  an  Edison  for  mechanics.  But 
the  man  who  is  a  mechanical  idiot  may  become  a  great  architect. 

No  one  without  talent  for  literature  can  be  a  Dickens.  But  the 
boy  who  can  not  write  a  connected  sentence  may  become  a  renowned 
chemist. 

In  every  person  there  is  the  possibility  of  something.  Find  tha-t 
something  and  he  it. 

Don't  waste  any  more  of  your  life  in  an  aimless  expenditure 
of  time. 

The  day  that  you  definitely  decide  to  make  something  of  yourself 
is  the  most  important  day  of  your  life.     Let  that  day  he  today. 

Decide  to  be  something.  Then  be  true  as  steel  to  your  decision. 
Think  of  it,  plan  for  it,  work  for  it,  and  live  for  it.  Throw  your 
mind,  might,  strength,  heart,  and  soul  into  your  actions. 

No  matter  whether  your  object  be  great  or  small,  if  you  prop- 
erly plan  its  achievement,  and  then  adhere  to  your  plans,  success 
will  smile  upon  you. 

Another  of  the  mechanical  devices  for  securing  emphasis 
or  producing  effectiveness  is  the  use  of  either  capitals  or 
italics.    As  concerns  the  former  we  should  be  quite  safe  in 


EFFECTIVENESS  107 


saying  that  in  your  writing  you  would  never  have  occa- 
sion to  use  capitals.  Capitals  in  your  written  speech  are 
what  your  very  loudest  scream  or  shout  would  be  in  your 
spoken  speech.  And  you  know  how  seldom  you  have  to 
scream  or  shout. 

As  concerns  the  second,  use  them  for  emphasis  as  little  as 
possible.  Italics  are  practically  always  a  confession  of 
weakness  in  your  expression ;  you  do  not  need  them  if  you 
know  how  to  write  strong,  effective  sentences  that  produce 
their  effect  by  innate  skill.  Such  sentences  do  not  have  to 
resort  to  the  mechanical  device  of  italics. 

Note. — Two  reservations  are  to  be  made  here:  (1)  Italics  are 
used,  as  for  instance  in  this  book,  to  set  off  words  given  as  examples 
and  instances,  or  mentioned  merely  as  words.  They  are  used  to 
avoid  the  disfigurement  of  the  page  by  a  large  number  of  quotation 
marks.  (2)  In  an  advertisement  and  in  a  certain  kind  of  form- 
letter,  capitals,  italics,  and  black-face  type  may  legitimately  be 
distributed  through  the  text  for  the  purpose  of  arresting  the  eye,  and 
calling  attention  to  the  catch- words.  But  in  neither  of  these  cases 
are  italics  used  for  emphasis. 

Some  of  the  important  processes  and  devices  for  securing 
effectiveness  are  these : 

1.  The  placing  of  the  material  in  the  sentence. — 
Exercise  1 

Study  the  following  sentences  and  try  the  effect  of  chang- 
ing the  places  of  the  words  italicized : 

1.  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers. 

2.  Though  twentieth  in  population,  in  bank  deposits  and  bank 
clearings,  Kansas  City  is  seventh. 

3.  The  hazards  of  weather  and  market  he  seems  completely  to 
have  eliminated. 

4.  What  Westfield  has  done  every  other  city,  town,  and  hamlet 
in  America  can  do. 

6.  Up  go  prices. 


108  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

6.  Two  coffee  seeds  were  planted  in  1754  by  a  monk  in  the  gar- 
den of  a  monastery  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  from  this  beginning  has 
grown  Brazil's  enormous  wealth  in  coffee. 

7.  The  thing  you  propose  is,  in  the  conventional  use  of  the 
term  impossible. 

8.  Concerning  history  with  all  its  lessons;  concerning  the  great 
thoughts  of  philosophy  and  religion;  concerning  human  nature  itself, 
his  mind  is  a  blank. 

9.  To  increase  the  weekly  pay  of  a  wage-earner  is  an  object 
which  they  hotly  pursue.  To  make  him  cease  to  be  a  ivage-earner 
is  an  object  that  would  seem  to  them  entirely  outside  the  realities 
of  life. 

10.  Our  country  is,  after  all,  not  a  country  of  dollars  but  of 
ballots. 

11.  To  think  hard  and  persistently  is  painful. 

You  will  notice  that  the  conspicuous  and  therefore 
emphatic  places  in  the  sentence  are  the  beginning  and  the 
end.  It  is  possible  in  speaking  to  give  especial  emphasis 
to  a  word  that  comes  in  the  middle. 

Any  upsetting  of  the  normal  order  of  a  sentence  tends  to 
give  emphasis  to  the  parts  that  are  out  of  order. 

The  conspicuous  places  in  a  paragraph,  too,  are  at  the 
beginning  and  the  end.  If  you  are  going  to  state  your 
important  fact,  your  topic,  only  once,  it  is  better  in  busi- 
ness writing,  especially  letters,  to  give  it  the  first  sentence 
in  your  paragraph.  A  busy  man — indeed  any  man  who  is 
reading  for  facts — ^likes  to  get  his  fact  or  his  topic  first. 
Some  minds  are  so  acute  that  they  do  not  need  the  amplifi- 
cations and  examples  that  come  in  to  support  the  topic 
statement.  For  such  readers  give  this  statement  at  once.  In 
literary  writing  you  expect  your  reader  to  take  deliberate 
pleasure  in  the  reading;  you  desire  him  to  think  and  feel 
along  with  you,  and  having  gone  through  the  process,  to 
arrive  at  the  same  conclusion  with  you.  The  literary  writer 
uses  with  good  effect  the  paragraph  that  announces  its  topic 
at  the  end.    These  statements  must  not  be  taken  as  rules. 


EFFECTIVENESS  109 


They  are  helpful  observations — deductions  from  the  study 
of  good  writing.  These  two  types  of  paragraphs  have 
already  been  illustrated  (page  66). 

The  places  for  producing  effect  in  a  letter  are  at  the 
beginning,  the  end,  and  in  the  space  on  the  line  of  vision. 
These  points  are  discussed  in  detail  in  the  section  on 
letters  (Chapter  XII,  A). 

2.  Emphasis  by  proportion. — Fullness  of  treatment 
gives  emphasis  and  effectiveness  to  any  especially  impor- 
tant matter.  You  open  out  in  detail  the  topic  to  which  you 
wish  especial  attention  given.  When  you  open  a  letter 
you  can  tell  at  a  glance,  by  the  amount  of  space  used,  where 
the  central,  important  heart  of  the  letter  lies. 

For  emphasis  of  this  sort  the  paragraph  that  states  the 
topic  sentence  both  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end,  by  way 
of  summary  or  of  iteration,  is  good ;  between  the  two  state- 
ments you  fill  in  with  specifications,  details,  or  proofs ;  you 
clinch  the  whole  with  a  new  and  stronger  statement  of  the 
final  conclusion. 

3.  Repetition  and  iteration. — These  give  a  kind  of  effec- 
tiveness that  comes  of  delivering  blow  after  blow  in  the 
same  place  until  the  nail  is  driven  in.  This  device  is  par- 
ticularly effective  in  speaking.  The  reason  for  this  is  partly 
a  physical  one;  you  hear  only  once,  and  repetition  helps 
more  than  it  does  in  matter  to  be  read,  where  you  may  see 
the  statement  any  number  of  times.  Notice  the  effect  of 
repetition  in  this  paragraph : 

The  scope  of  any  possible  effective  regulation  of  railroads  is 
limited  to  a  relatively  narrow  sphere.  Regulation  may  prevent 
positive  abuses  like  discrimination,  or  rebating,  or  excessive  rates. 
Regulation  may  prevent  persistent  disregard  of  definite  public 
demands.  Regulation  may  compel  the  correction  of  definite  evils, 
like  the  use  of  unsanitary  cars.  But  regulation  can  not  make  an 
inefficient  business   efficient.    Regulation   can   not   supply   initiative 


110  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

and  energy.  Regulation  can  not  overcome  the  wasting  sickness  of 
monopoly.  Regulation  may  curb,  but  it  can  not  develop,  the  action 
of  railroad  officials.  The  policy  of  regulating  public  service  com- 
panies is  sound,  but  it  must  not  be  overworked. — Brandeis,  "Business 
as  a  Profession.'* 

4.  The  use  of  specific  terms  and  concrete  instances. — 

Here  again  may  be  pointed  out  the  value  of  detail.  You 
have  seen  how  it  helps  clearness — opening  out  and  clearing 
up  general  or  abstract  terms  that  might  be  obscure  or  unfa- 
miliar. It  is  even  more  valuable  as  a  means  to  effectiveness. 
Our  emotions  are  aroused  not  by  the  whole  class,  by  the  gen- 
eral truth,  but  by  the  individual,  by  the  actual  living  pres- 
ent object.  We  are  moved  to  action  by  some  detail  of  pre- 
sentation that  touches  an  emotional  spring.  ''Neglected 
childhood"  stirs  little  feeling  in  us;  ''The  neglected  chil- 
dren of  the  slums"  comes  very  little  nearer  to  us;  "The 
children  of  the  crowded  tenements  who  have  no  playground 
but  the  streets ' '  touches  only  the  more  sensitive  souls ;  ' '  Lit- 
tle pale,  blue-eyed  Tommy  Ryan  gasping  for  breath  in  the 
hot  kitchen  where  he  lives  with  his  mother"  brings  dollars 
enough  to  send  Tommy  and  his  mother  for  a  week  in  the 
country. 

0.  Henry,  describing  the  shop-girl  in  one  of  his  stories, 
could  have  said,  ' '  Her  promotion  was  the  result  of  strength, 
courage,  innocence,  patience,  and  loyalty,"  and  we  should 
have  had  no  emotional  reaction,  no  charm  of  humor,  and 
no  real  vision  of  the  girl.  He  did  say,  "Her  rise  to  an 
eight-dollar-a-week  salary  is  the  combined  stories  of  Her- 
cules, Joan  of  Arc,  Una,  Job,  and  Little  Red  Riding  Hood." 
Then  we  see  her  struggle,  and  we  see  the  humor  of  the 
details  by  which  he  presents  it.  Such  suggestive  details  as 
these  sometimes  give  a  very  nice  touch  of  romance,  as  in 
this: 

Modem  transportation  is  a  jungle  of  routes  calling  for  specialists 


EFFECTIVENESS  m 


who  like  the  pathfinders  of  old  have  expert  knowledge  of  the  trails 
of  traffic. 

These  details  may  be  the  simple  analysis  of  the  general 
term,  or  they  may  be,  as  you  will  have  noticed  in  the  fore- 
going, examples  or  comparisons  brought  in  from  other  fields 
of  thought  to  make  your  meaning  stronger  or  more 
appealing. 

Exercise  2 

In  the  following  examples  supply  the  general  or  abstract 
term  in  place  of  each  group  of  details;  and  give  specific 
details  or  concrete  examples  in  place  of  the  general  and 
abstract  terms. 

1.  All  day  we  journeyed  through  the  desolate  scenery  of  the 
desert. 

2.  The  car  has  long  wheel-hose,  roomy  compartments,  over-ample 
springs,  extra  deep  upholstery. 

3.  It  has  spacious  door  openings,  illuminated  running  hoards, 
starter  operated  by  foot,  every  mechanical  unit  within  reach. 

4.  The  airman  of  today  has  everything  he  needs  with  which  to 
fight  the  laws  of  gravity — with  an  engine  of  sufficient  power  he 
could  fly  a  piano-hox. 

5.  One  of  the  advertiser's  problems  is  how  to  make  a  noise  like 
a  cannon  with  a  musket. 

6.  The  proprietor  of  a  ten-cent  store  rents  a  very  expensive 
building,  in  the  retail  district  for  his  shop.  He  says,  "I  like  to 
set  my  trap  where  the  mice  are  plentiful." 

7.  Certain  modern  inventions  have  revolutionized  not  only  the 
business  but  the  philosophy  of  the  world. 

8.  The  Japanese  soldiers  had  the  spirit  that  made  of  them 
human  bullets. 

5.  Relevancy. — These  details,  whether  of  analysis  or  of 
comparison,  must  be  relevant.  This  is  a  word  much  used 
now  in  the  teaching  of  all  writing,  especially  of  business 
writing.  To  be  relevant  is  to  stick  to  your  subject  and 
your  purpose;  to  pick  out  what  the  salesman  calls  your 


112  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

"selling  points  "and  to  make  the  most  of  these;  to  find 
out  the  genius  of  your  topic,  the  things  that  make  it  what 
it  is,  the  thing  that  it  is  really  good  for,  the  time  when  it 
is  most  appropriate,  the  circle  to  whom  it  is  to  be  given — 
these  and  many  more  points  that  come  to  a  writer  with 
experience  and  observation,  are  the  points  that  go  to  make 
relevancy.  To  modern  advertising  and  to  the  studies  in 
the  psychology  of  advertising,  we  owe  much  of  our  realiza- 
tion of  the  value  of  relevancy. 

Suppose  you  wanted  to  make  some  one  realize  what  a 
good  luncheon  you  were  going  to  have;  suppose,  indeed, 
you  were  the  manager  of  a  restaurant  and  wanted  to 
attract  customers  for  your  special  spring  delicacies. 

You  could  say,  ' '  We  will  have  spring  chicken  and  straw- 
berry short-cake  ^ '  and  leave  it  at  that,  but  the  announcement 
would  attract  only  the  very  hungry.  If  you  should  say, 
*' We  will  have  spring  chicken  grown  in  the  country  among 
the  clover  and  daisies,  and  short-cake,  fragrant  as  Easter 
lilies"— you  would  miss  your  point — you  would  sin  against 
relevancy.  These  things  are  to  be  eaten.  Your  description 
of  them  and  your  appeal  to  your  hearer  must  be  addressed 
to  the  sense  of  taste — only  partially  and  incidentally  to  the 
sense  of  sight ;  make  only  a  slight  concession  to  the  fact  that 
we  begin  to  eat  with  our  eyes.  Isn't  this  account  of  your 
luncheon  more  ^levant? 

We  will  have  broiled  chickens — little,  tender  chickens  broiled 
out  of  doorsj  brought  in  on  a  hot  platter,  done  to  a  delicate  brown, 
seasoned  with  the  delicious  flavor  of  wood-smoke,  a  touch  of  butter, 
a  sprinkling  of  salt,  and  a  dash  of  paprika.  And  then  we  will  have 
short-cake — real  home-made  biscuit  short-cake,  white  and  flaky,  swim- 
ming in  crushed  strawberries — the  ripest,  reddest,  juciest  of  straw- 
berries. 

If  you  were  selling  all  kinds  of  stationery  and  used  the 
following  details  in  two  advertisements,  which  would  you 


EFFECTIVENESS  113 


put  into  a  trade  journal  and  which  into  a  woman's  maga- 
zine ? 

1.  The  purchasing  agent  for  a  large  firm  says  of  our  paper: 
•'I  now  use  it  for  everything — letter-heads,  office  and  factory  forms, 
price  lists,  etc.  It  is  economical;  it  is  durable;  it  is  clear  of  finish; 
it  has  quality  in  the  feel  of  it.  It  is  water  marked;  the  man  who 
makes  it  seems  to  say,  'I  will  always  make  this  paper  just  what 
it  is  now.  I  will  never  cheapen  this  paper  on  which  I  have  set 
my  mark'." 

2.  The  fine  qualities  of  our  stationery  are  much  enhanced  by 
the  cut  of  the  envelope,  the  size  and  shape  of  the  sheet,  the  shades 
of  the  colored  borders,  the  gold  edges,  and  the  artistic  boxes  and 
ribbons. 

Suppose  you  were  the  proprietor  of  a  soda-fountain 
where  you  supplied  all  sorts  of  soft  drinks,  which  of  these 
announcements  would  you  make  on  December  15  and  which 
on  July  15  ? 

1.  Sparkling,  bubbling,  twinkling  aerated  waters;  fruit-ices; 
grape  juice;   and  lemonade. 

2.  A  cup  of  chocolate  piping  hot,  fragrant,  and  comforting;  smok- 
ing bouillon  that  will   make  you   forget  the   temperature  outside. 

Exercise  3 

1.  Write  a  paragraph  partially  describing  a  visit  to  Flor- 
ida in  the  winter — making  the  details  relevant  to  the  sub- 
ject and  the  season. 

2.  Write  a  paragraph  describing  in  part  an  experience 
in  the  Canadian  Rockies  in  the  summer,  making  the  details 
relevant  to  the  subject  and  the  season. 

3.  Write  an  advertisement  of  candies,  containing  relevant 
details. 

a)  The  candies  themselves. 
h)   The  packages. 

4.  Write  an  advertisement  of  hosiery,  making  the  details 


114  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

relevant  to  the  article  and  persuasive  to  the  possible  cus- 
tomer. 

a)  Hosiery  for  men. 

h)  Hosiery  for  women. 

5.  Write  an  advertisement  of  a  sporting-goods  house 
appealing 

a)  To  men. 

h)  To  high-school  boys. 

c)  To  high-school  girls. 

d)  To  grammar-school  boys. 

6.  Write  an  advertisement  of  a  sporting-goods  house 

a)  For  December  15. 
h)  For  July  15. 

6.  Exactness  or  suggestiveness. — It  depends  entirely  on 
what  kind  of  material  you  are  handling,  what  audience  you 
are  addressing,  and  what  your  purpose  is,  as  to  whether 
exactness  of  detail  or  suggestiveness  is  more  effective.  If 
you  were  writing  to  an  engineering  journal  you  would 
say — 

From  May  4,  1905,  when  work  was  started  by  the  United  States 
Government  on  the  Panama  Canal,  to  April  1,  1914,  there  have  been 
hauled  from  the  various  cuts  to  "dump,"  121,152,783  cubic  yards  of 
material  or  "spoil." 

If  you  were  writing  to  a  popular  magazine  you  would 

say— 

The  excavated  material  from  the  entire  canal  would  make  a 
line  of  sixty-three  pyramids  each  one  equal  in  size  to  the  Great 
Pyramid  of  Egypt,  reaching  up  Fifth  Avenue  from  the  Battery  to 
Harlem,  a  distance  of  nine  miles. 

Or  to  vary  the  illustration — 

The  amount  of  digging  done  would  open  a  canal  fifty-five  feet 
wide  and  ten  feet  deep  from  Maine  to  Oregon. 

Suppose  you  were  making  up  a  party  of  young  ladies  to 


EF'FECTIVENESS  115 


take  to  Europe.  In  the  letter  you  designed  for  the  young 
lady  you  would  give  suggestions  and  imaginative  details 
of  castles  on  the  Rhine,  snowy  alpine  peaks,  the  weird 
crags  and  cliffs  of  the  Dolomites;  to  her  father  you  would 
send  a  neat  tabulated  statement  showing  the  expense  in 
dollars  and  cents  itemized  as  travel,  hotel,  fees,  etc. 

So  this,  too,  comes  to  a  matter  of  relevancy.  But  you 
should  never  allow  yourself  to  forget  how,  or  fail  to  learn 
how,  to  make  the  imaginative  and  suggestive  appeal. 

Exercise  4 

Write  the  letters  indicated  above  to  the  young  lady 
you  desire  to  have  join  your  party  and  to  her  father. 

7.  The  failure  of  exaggerated  statement. — All  over- 
emphasis defeats  its  own  ends.  Crude  superlatives  weaken 
rather  than  strengthen  your  effect;  the  best,  the  greatest, 
the  latest,  the  most  economical — all  these  were  discounted 
long  ago.  When  you  use  one-  of  them,  you  must  be  sure 
that  you  are  right,  and  that  you  could  bring  proof  or 
detailed  statement  in  support  of  your  hyperbole.  But  these 
words  and  all  like  them  are  the  merest  crude  way  of  secur- 
ing emphasis,  and  are  to  be  renounced  along  with  capitals 
and  italics. 

Neither  will  the  mere  use  of  strong  terms  produce  either 
conviction  or  action.  Such  a  blustering  paragraph  as  the 
following  produces  only  amusement,  although  the  writer 
heaped  up  in  it  all  the  strong  words  he  knew : 

The  thing  that  is  needed  in  business  writing  is  some  aggressive- 
ness; plenty  of  ginger,  producing  interest  and  action;  strong,  power- 
ful, persuasive,  compelling  statement  of  facts  with  red-blood 
enthusiasm,  organization,  and  power  in  every  paragraph,  every 
sentence,  every  word. 

Or  this,  almost  equally  funny,  quoted  in  ''Life"  from  a 


116  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

report  of  the  Washington,  D.  C,  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
''Life"  prefixed  the  caption  "Easily  Fixed." 

What  business  men  generally  desire,  what  industry  most  needs, 
is  the  certainty  of  a  period  of  rest  for  the  peaceful  readjustment 
of  all  enterprise  that  is  inconsistent  with  the  accepted  principles 
of  law  and  ethics,  and  for  the  energetic  advancement  of  all  indi- 
vidual endeavors  free  of  any  sense  of  rrepression,  secure  in  a  sense 
of  liberty  of  action,  and  guarded  from  the  danger  that  the  dis- 
closure of  personal  prerogatives  and  personal  achievements  would 
entail. 

Compare  the  two  foregoing  paragraphs  with  this  enthu- 
siastic, specific,  effective  paragraph  from  Arnold  Bennett's 
"Your  United  States." 

The  Pennsylvania  station  in  New  York  is  full  of  the  noble 
qualities  that  fine  and  heroic  imagination  alone  can  give.  That 
there  existed  a  railroad  man  poetic  and  audacious  enough  to  want 
it,  architects  with  genius  powerful  enough  to  create  it,  and  a 
public  with  heart  enough  to  love  it — these  things  are  for  me  a 
surer  proof  that  the  American  is  a  great  race  than  the  existence 
of  any  quantity  of  wealthy  universities,  museums  of  classic  art, 
associations  for  prison  reform,  or  deep-delved  safe-deposit  vaults 
crammed  with  bonds.  Such  a  monument  does  not  spring  up  by 
chance ;  it  is  part  of  the  slow  flowering  of  a  nation's  secret  spirit ! 

8.  Summaries  and  tabulated  statements. — A  business  or 
scientific  article  or  letter  may  often  secure  great  effective- 
ness by  presenting  its  material  in  the  form  of  an  analyzed 
summary  with  the  items  set  apart  and  numbered.  Many 
persons  are  attracted  by  these  tables  and  other  graphic 
presentations  of  material. 

There  are,  especially  in  the  business  world,  many  per- 
sons who  need,  not  ample  statement  of  detail  and  well-stated 
reasons,  but  a  condensed  view,  a  sort  of  picture  which  they 
can  grasp  quickly  and  easily.    For  example  : 

1.  If  you  want  to — 

Prolong  the  life  of  your  engine 


EFFECTIVENESS  1 17 


Reduce  up-keep   expense 

Retard   depreciation 

Add  to  comfort  and  safety 

Prever.t  delays   and   repairs 
see  that  your  car  is  equipped  with  our  springs. 

2.  Mrs.  Frederick  sums  up  the  causes  of  eighty  per  cent  of  the 
inefficiency  of  housework: 

1.  The  worker  does  not  have  all  the  needful  tools  or  utensils 
at  hand  before  her  when  she  begins  to  work;    therefore, 

2.  She  wastes  time  and  effort  walking  to,  hunting  for,  or  fetch- 
ing ingredients,  tools,  or  materials  she  neglected  to  have  at  hand 
when  she  began  the  task. 

3.  She  stops  in  the  middle  of  one  task  to  do  something  else 
ciuite  unrelated. 

4.  She  lowers  the  efficiency  of  good  work  by  losing  time  putting 
tools  or  work  away,  generally  due  to  poor  arrangement  of  kitchen, 
pantry,  and  closets. 

5.  She  uses  a  poor  tool,  or  a  wrong  one;  or  works  at  a  table, 
sink,  ironing-board,  or  molding-board  of  the  wrong  height  from 
the  floor. 

6.  She  loses  time  because  she  does  not  keep  sufficient  supplies 
on  hand,  and  because  she  does  not  keep  her  tools  and  utensils  in 
good  condition. 

9.  Analysis  and  organization. — As  a  matter  of  fact, 
great  effectiveness  is  achieved  by  giving  to  your  whole 
speech,  article,  or  letter  this  atmosphere  of  organization. 
Whether  or  not  you  number  your  points  yourself,  your 
reader  or  hearer  should  be  able  to  number  them.  Do  your 
thinking  by  distinct,  logical  steps,  so  that  it  not  only  can 
be  but  must  be  understood  and  remembered. 

This  organization  and  analysis  of  your  thought  and  mate- 
rial has  been  emphasized  in  your  exercises  in  business  com- 
position; it  has  been  stated  as  a  factor  in  clearness;  it 
is  discussed  under  the  making  of  a  speech,  and  under 
thinking  out  a  letter.  The  aim  has  been  to  exemplify  it 
in  every  chapter  of  this  book.  It  is  indispensable  to  effec- 
tiveness of  the  practical  and  logical  sort. 


113  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

10.  Sincerity. — A  tone  of  dignity  and  truthfulness 
secures  great  and  lasting  effectiveness.  The  applicant  who 
states  his  qualifications  modestly  and  truthfully  with  real 
dignity,  is  the  one  who  makes  the  effective  application.  The 
advertisement  that  makes  no  false  promises  but  is  enthusi- 
astic and  relevant  is  the  one  that  attracts  desirable  and 
permanent 'response.  No  reader  believes  that  hopeless  dis- 
aster will  overtake  him  if  he  does  not  act  NOW.  Only  the 
most  inexpert  person  would  be  taken  in,  or  pushed  to  a 
decision  by  urgencies  so  crude  as  the  following : 

Only  a  few  days  remain  during  which  you  may  obtain  the  benefit 
of  the  large  reduction  offered  from  regular  prices. 

Sit  down  today  this  hour,  this  very  minute,  and  write  to  me. 
You  must  act  at  once. 

You  will  absolutely  never  have  another  opportunity  to  secure 
these  glorious  books  at  anything  like  this  price. 

Let  us  hear  from  you  by  return  mail.    Make  out  your  order  and 

MAIL   IT    TODAY. 

Remember  it  is  tour  benefit  that  we  are  seeking. 

11.  Emphasis  on  the  focus. — In  each  sentence  there  is  a 
main  idea;  we  have  discussed  the  means  of  throwing  this 
up  into  a  high  light.  In  every  paragraph  there  is  an  item 
or  a  thought  or  a  purpose  to  be  made  clear  and  effective.  In 
every  article  or  letter  or  speech,  there  is  a  thought  or  a 
small  series  of  thoughts  which  constitutes  its  reason  for 
being.  Decide  in  every  case  what  this  focus,  this  heart  of 
your  letter  is,  and  bring  it  into  prominence  by  some  of 
the  means  we  have  discussed.  Make  your  central  point 
clear.  Put  your  climax  where  it  belongs,  and  light  it  up. 
There  will  be  some  practical  illustrations  of  this  in  the 
letters  (Chapter  XII,  A). 

12.  Reaching  a  conclusion. — In  business  writing,  espe- 
cially, you  need  the  effect  of  pushing  on  to  a  conclusion; 
in  scientific  writing  you  may  say  that  you  have  not  data 


EFFECTIVENESS  119 


enough  for  a  final  conclusion ;  in  literary  writing  you  may 
leave  your  essay  or  story  inconclusive  for  the  sake  of  artistic 
effect;  but  in  practical  aft'airs  you  want  the  conclusion,  the 
decision,  the  application,  the  ' '  what  of  it. ' '  The  ' '  clincher ' ' 
is  used  by  some  writers  as  a  technical  term  to  name  this 
element  in  business  writing.  Clinch  your  thought  if  you 
are  aiming  at  effectiveness. 

Exercise  5 

1.  Jot  down  the  twelve  sideheads  of  this  chapter,  writing 
only  those  words  appearing  in  black-face  type.  Give  a 
talk  on  effectiveness  from  these  as  notes. 

2.  Under  each  head  give  one  illustration  or  example  from 
the  book,  and  one  of  your  own  choosing  or  inventing. 


General  Exercises  in  Business  Composition 

The  art  and  business  of  advertising  is,  as  you  know,  a 
very  elaborate  thing.  Kapid  and  complete  communication 
all  over  the  world  has  completely  altered  the  problems  of 
selling  goods ;  national  and  international  selling  constitutes 
much  of  the  business  of  our  day.  This  has  raised  advertis- 
ing to  a  place  of  great  importance;  an  advertising  expert 
must  be  trained  as  elaborately  as  a  lawyer  or  a  doctor. 

But  so  far  as  the  final  basic  principles  go,  they  are  sim- 
ple ;  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  the  fundamental  charac- 
teristics of  all  good  writing.  These  principles  are  indeed, 
only  our  two  friends — clearness  and  effectiveness. 

At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  remembered  that  advertise- 
ments differ  from  other  compositions  in  the  manner  of 
their  approach  to  the  reader.  They  must  be  planned  to 
catch  the  wandering  eye  and  to  hold  attention  until  their 
purpose  is  accomplished.  They  have  only  a  moment  in 
which  to  tell  their  whole  story,  and  in  that  moment  they 
must  overcome  an  indifferent  or  even  hostile  attitude  in  the 
reader,  convince  him  of  the  desirability  of  a  certain  act, 
and  persuade  him  to  perform  that  act. 

If  you  will  examine  a  number  of  effective  advertisements, 
you  will  see  that  the  writers  had  clearly  in  mind  three  dis- 
tinct objects : 

1.  To  catch  and  hold  the  reader's  attention  by  appealing 
to  some  interest  that  is  easily  roused ; 

2.  To  convey  some  convincing  information  in  the  fewest 
possible  words; 

3.  By  a  direct  appeal  to  his  desires  to  persuade  him  to 
action. 

120 


EFFECTIVENESS  121 


The  writing  of  advertisements  is  a  fine  discipline  for  the 
securing  of  clearness  and  effectiveness.    Try  these  exercises : 

1.  You  are  a  manufacturer  of  toilet  articles — soap,  per- 
fumes, face-powders,  dentifrices. 

a)  Write  an  advertisement  of  your  soap  (or  some  par- 
ticular variety  of  it)  to  be  run  in  an  automobile  trade- 
journal;  make  it  relevant — to  the  soap,  to  the  customer, 
to  the  advertising  medium. 

h)  Write  an  advertisement  of  a  soap  to  be  run  in  The 
yv Oman's  Home  Companion;  make  it  relevant. 

c)  Write  an  advertisement  of  several  varieties  of  face- 
powder;  choose  the  medium  in  which  you  will  run  it. 

d)  Write  a  folder  of  about  a  hundred  words  advertising 
your  dentifrice;  make  it  relevant  to  the  purpose  of  the 
goods. 

2.  Your  department  store  is  having  a  sale  of  shoes.  Write 
advertisements  for  the  morning  paper: 

a )   For  men 's  shoes. 
h )  For  women 's  shoes. 

3.  You  are  a  dealer  in  stationery.  Write  an  advertise- 
ment to  be  used  in  the  morning  paper  on  the  day  that  school 
opens. 

You  are  not  responsible  for  illustration,  type,  or  any  of 
the  display  features;  you  are  to  produce  only  copy. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SPOKEN  ENGLISH 
A.    SPEAKING  ENGLISH 

All  the  fundamental  matters  that  we  have  studied  so  far 
apply  both  to  written  and  to  spoken  English.  Both  should 
be  grammatically  correct;  for  both  the  correct  and  precise 
word  is  necessary;  both  should  show  a  sufficient  range  of 
expression  to  secure  variety  and  exactness;  both  should  so 
choose  and  arrange  their  material  as  to  conserve  correct- 
ness, clearness,  and  effectiveness. 

There  comes  a  point,  however,  when  the  two  forms  of 
expression  diverge;  there  are  some  considerations — as  for 
example,  enunciation  and  pronunciation — that  concern 
spoken  English  only;  others,  as  spelling  and  punctuation, 
concern  written  English  only. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  speak  of  the  importance  of  our 
spoken  word,  or  to  tell  any  student  how  much  it  counts 
in  practical  affairs.  Poor  Peter,  the  Galilean  fisherman, 
still  used  the  rude  swear- words,  and  probably  the  ungram- 
matical  vernacular  of  his  back-country  village,  and  the  city 
servant-girls  jeered  at  his  denials.  But  every  man's  speech 
' '  bewray eth  him. ' '  Of  course,  when  a  man  has  attained  suc- 
cess, when  he  has  a  prosperous  office,  or  belongs  to  a  big 
firm,  he  can  have  stenographers  whose  training  has  equipped 
them  to  take  care  of  the  mechanical  and  manual  side  of  the 
writing ;  to  supply  the  punctuation  and  spelling ;  to  arrange 
the  material  to  the  best  advantage;  and  in  rare  cases,  to 
correct  the  errors  in  grammar  and  diction  that  slip  into 
''the  Boss's"  dictation. 

But  when  he  speaks,  a  man  stands  alone.    When  he  goes 

122 


SPOKEN  ENGLISH  123 


for  that  critical  interview  that  will  place  him  or  not,  he  must 
speak  face  to  face  with  the  persons  he  desires  to  please.  No 
amount  of  formal  instruction  given  in  his  ' '  school  of  sales- 
manship ' '  can  equip  him  for  the  personal  encounter  with  a 
skillful  customer,  when  his  success  depends  upon  the  give- 
and-take  of  informal,  but  business  talk.  Underneath  all 
his  special  interviews  he  must  build  the  habit  of  correct, 
clear  speech;  otherwise  he  is  likely  to  slip  up  at  any 
moment,  and  to  create  an  unfortunate  impression  just  when 
he  is  most  eager  to  please. 

While  it  is  true  that  a  man 's  speech  betrays  him — reveal- 
ing his  ignorance,  his  ill-breeding,  his  lack  of  education,  his 
uncultured  association — it  is  quite  as  true  on  the  affirmative 
side,  that  it  reveals  his  thoughtfulness,  his  habits  of  care, 
his  desire  and  determination  to  be  a  cultivated  man,  his 
regard  for  truth  and  accuracy. 

1.  Colloquial  language. — There  is  distinctly  such  a  thing 
as  colloquial  style.  If  we  spoke  precisely  as  we  write,  even 
when  we  write  informally,  our  talk  would  sound  stilted 
and  priggish. 

1.  There  are  many  words  we  can  use  in  the  passing,  fleet- 
ing sentences  of  a  conversation  that  we  should  not  like  to 
face  on  a  written  or  printed  page,  where  they  would  be 
subjected  to  the  repeated  scrutiny  of  a  reader;  such  are 
phone,  wire  {telegram,  telegraph) ,  cute,  auto,  graft,  flabber- 
gasted, flunk,  exam.,  knock  {complain,  cavil),  roast  {con- 
demn). Bits  of  picturesque  slang,  if  used  with  point  and 
discrimination,  are  welcome  in  a  conversation  or  informal 
argument.    Dialect  and  local  words  give  point  and  color. 

2.  There  are  short-cuts  and  condensations  that  shorten 
our  expression  when  we  talk,  conserving  both  time  and 
patience,  that  would  never  do  on  the  written  page.  We  have 
voice  and  gesture  and  facial  expression  to  help  out  our 


124  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

meaning  when  we  talk;  when  we  write,  we  have  only  the 
black-and-white  page,  and  we  can  not  take  chances  as  to  our 
meaning.  We  must  make  it  clear,  therefore  we  can  not 
risk  condensation,  elimination,  hints,  and  fragments  of 
sentences. 

3.  The  chance  for  repetition  makes  a  very  real  condi- 
tion in  oral  expression.  We  know  that  if  we  are  not  under- 
stood in  one  form  we  can  alter  the  form ;  we  can  amplify  at 
will ;  indeed,  repetition  may  in  conversation  take  the  place 
of  almost  any  of  the  devices  that  secure  clearness  and  effec- 
tiveness. There  is  no  permanent  record  of  our  spoken 
material  to  which  our  hearer  may  turn  again  and  again,  as 
our  reader  to  the  written  or  printed  page.  Repetition  is, 
in  a  sense,  a  substitute  for  permanence.  Any  of  these 
allowable  peculiarities  of  colloquial  speech  may  be  over- 
worked or  exaggerated;  such  abuses  of  them  we  must  con- 
stantly guard  against. 

2.  Conversational  manners. — There  is  a  large  number 
of  things  which,  while  they  do  not,  in  a  strict  interpreta- 
tion, belong  to  a  course  in  English,  are  too  important  to  be 
ignored  in  any  lessons  on  speaking.  They  are,  indeed, 
largely  matters  of  manners,  rather  than  of  language.  A 
great  many  of  them  must  be  given  as  mere  * '  Don 't  's. ' ' 

1.  Cultivate  a  pleasant  voice.  If  you  don't  know  your 
faults  in  this  particular,  get  a  friend  or  teacher  to  criticize 
and  help  you. 

A  harsh,  rasping  voice  will  finally  irritate  the  persons 
you  have  to  deal  with  into  a  state  of  general  and  acute 
antagonism  to  you  which  they  may  not  be  able  to  explain, 
or  which  they  may  attribute  to  some  deep-seated  defect  in 
your  personality. 

An  unduly  loud  voice  will  misrepresent  you,  seeming  to 
express  an  amount  of  egotism  and  bumptiousness  of  which 
you  are  not  guilty. 


SPOKEN  ENGLISH  ^25 


A  level  monotone  is  fatal  to  effectiveness.  The  soothing 
qualities  of  such  a  voice  may  be  an  asset  if  you  are  a  nurse ; 
but  in  most  other  businesses  you  need  variety  and  flexi- 
bility of  voice. 

Don't  talk  through  your  nose.  This  defect  is  so  easily 
cured  that  the  failure  to  cure  it  is  justly  set  down  as  an 
unpardonable  failure. 

A  high,  excited  treble  will  create  an  unbearable  nervous 
tension  in  an  entire  office  force. 

A  low  society  murmur  is  not  the  ideal  for  a  business  girl 
to  set  herself ;  a  quiet,  but  clear  and  crisp  enunciation  that 
carries  to  the  other  end  of  the  telephone  wire,  and  that 
causes  the  hearer  no  effort  in  listening,  is  a  better  ideal. 
Such  a  voice  need  not  be  loud — its  effectiveness  is  indepen- 
dent of  volume  of  sound. 

A  deep,  quiet  chest  tone,  produced  like  the  singing  voice, 
as  it  were,  from  the  diaphragm  seems  best  in  all  vocal  trans- 
actions. 

2.  Americans  have  practically  only  one  gesture,  or  rather 
gesticulation,  and  that  is  the  gesture  of  pointing.  This 
can  become  very  irritating  and  is  in  many  circles  consid- 
ered ill-bred.  The  dramatic  gesture  that  should  accompany 
public  speaking  should  be  made  a  matter  of  study — unless, 
indeed,  the  student  has  the  dramatic  temperament,  and  uses 
instinctively  eloquent  and  effective  gestures. 

Don't  laugh  or  even  smile  while  you  talk,  unless,  of 
course,  you  are  quite  overcome  with  the  fun  of  your  own 
speech — and  don 't  giggle  w^hen  you  have  finished. 

3.  Listen  when  the  other  person  is  talking.  Give  him 
your  eyes  and  your  attention,  no  matter  what  is  going  on 
around  you.  Don't  seek  him,  or  don't  receive  him,  unless 
you  can  give  him  your  undivided  attention.  He  has  a  right 
to  feel  that  he  is  as  important  as  any  of  the  persons  whose 
letters  lie  on  your  desk. 


126  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

Don't  rumble  away  saying  uh-liuh,  just  so,  exactly,  pre- 
cisely, I  know  it,  and  uttering  other  phrases  and  inarticulate 
sounds  that  arise  out  of  mere  nervousness  on  your  part ;  at 
best  they  are  intended  to  express  agreement  or  encourage- 
ment— and  these  are  much  better  expressed  by  your  attitude 
of  attention  and  interest. 

4.  Reply  to  what  your  partner  in  the  interview  or  the 
conversation  says.  Don't  have  the  manner  of  waiting  for 
the  last  bare  word  to  issue  from  his  lips,  in  order  to  tell 
a  more  or  less  relevant  story  or  to  make  some  half -uncon- 
nected statement  of  your  own.  This  habit  it  is,  that  kills 
conversation  and  clogs  oral  business  among  American  men. 

5.  Don't  ''cut  in."  Try  to  wait  till  the  other  man  has 
had  his  say.  Or  if  you  find  yourself  in  the  toils  of  a  hope- 
lessly long-winded  interviewer,  or  if  you  see  that  someone 
is  going  to  make  a  long  explanation  of  something  you 
already  know,  you  may  interrupt  with  a  courteous  phrase : 
Pardon  me,  I  can  spare  you  the  explanation,  etc. 

(Oh,  yes,  I  know  there  will  come  an  emergency  when — 
but  is  such  an  emergency  not  best  met  by  throwing  the  still  < 
talking  visitor  out  of  the  window?) 

6.  Don 't  say  yup  or  yah,  or  nope  or  n^h  or  anything  else 
in  place  of  these  words  but  a  courteous  yes  or  no.  In  case 
you  are  speaking  to  an  elder,  or  a  superior,  or  an  instructor, 
you  may  follow  some  of  your  yes's  and  no's  by  a  sir  or 
madam,  or  by  the  name  of  the  person.  Yes,  Mr.  Bruce,  or 
No,  Miss  Lewis.  But  when  you  are  working  with  this  person 
for  hours  at  a  time,  this  practice  may  become  very  irritating, 
and  a  simple  yes  or  no  may  be  so  pronounced  as  to  be  all 
that  courtesy  demands. 

If  you  are  in  a  public  place  and  have  to  talk  with  stran- 
gers, never  say  Lady  or  Mister.  Say  Madam  to  all  women 
other  than  mere  girls ;  to  very  young  girls  say  Miss;  to  all 
men  say  Sir.  . 


SPOKEN  ENGLISH  127 


7.  Don't  preface  your  speech  with  Say!  don't  use  I  know 
it  as  a  term  of  agreement.  Don't  interlard  your  speech 
with  those  annoying  phrases  that  seem  to  call  for  agree- 
ment or  attention — Seef  don't  you  see?  don't  you  think  sof 
you  know,  huh?  This  is  an  almost  universal  habit  of  young 
business  men,  growing  possibly  out  of  the  effort  to  be  per- 
suasive and  informal;  it  will  bring  tears  of  vexation  and 
rage  to  the  eyes  of  any  customer  worth  having. 

8.  Don't  make  yourself  a  fountain  of  meaningless  and 
underbred  oaths  and  expletives;  Gee  is  profane;  mercy, 
goodness,  for  pity's  sake,  for  the  love  of  Mike,  etc.,  etc. — 
all  these  things  are  vulgar  and  useless. 

It  is  probably  true  that  every  one  of  us  knows  some  useful 
citizen  and  successful  business  man  or  woman  who  does 
one  or  all  of  the  things  condemned  above.  But  he  succeeds 
in  spite  of  them ;  he  has  personality  and  character  enough 
to  carry  the  handicap  of  vulgar  speech  habits.  Such  a  per- 
sonality would  never  be  merely  standardized  by  correct 
habits ;  he  would  only  have  the  added  weight  and  dignity 
that  such  habits  would  bring. 

3.  The  dramatic  gift  and  business  speech. — All  conver- 
sations are  little  dramas.  Every  really  successful  conversa- 
tionalist is  an  actor  who  is  able  to  take,  and  who  really 
does  take,  both  the  parts — ^his  own  when  he  speaks,  the 
other  person's  in  his  turn.  Every  business  man  should  be 
enough  of  a  dramatist  and  an  actor  to  be  able  to  adapt  hia 
speech  to  his  hearers.  If  they  are  plain,  simple  people,  he 
should  know  how  to  use  the  words  and  terms  of  speech 
that  they  will  understand.  If  his  clients,  or  customers,  or 
auditors  are  experienced  persons,  he  should  be  able  to  make 
his  appeal  to  them.  It  is  a  mistake  to  do  much  *' talking 
down"  to  your  auditors.  The  simplest  rustic  audience  is 
neither  flattered  nor  moved  by  poor  English,  or  by  the  ''by- 
gum  ' '  style  of  oratory.    A  cordial,  genial  manner  and  a  sin- 


128  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

cerely  sympathetic  interest  will  please  and  reassure  your 
audience  more  than  any  amount  of  incorrect  speech. 

No  tactful  person  will,  however,  ostentatiously  use  the 
correct  word  so  as  to  seem  to  rebuke  the  person  who  has 
used  the  incorrect  one;  he  will  choose  some  other  form  of 
expression. 

A  business  speech  or  interview  is  not  a  debate  or  a  talk- 
ing-match. Don't  contradict.  If  it  comes  to  a  drawn  ques- 
tion, shift  the  ground  as  tactfully  as  possible,  as  you  do  on 
a  social  occasion. 

Exercise  1 

1.  Write  a  quiz  of  fifteen  questions  on  this  chapter  up 
to  this  point.  They  should  all  be  questions  that  you  can 
answer.  None  of  them  should  be  answerable  by  a  mere  yes 
or  no. 

2.  Write  out  five  questions  suggested  by  this  chapter  to 
which  you  need  answers,  and  submit  them  to  your  instructor. 

4.  Careful  enunciation. — The  clipping  and  slurring  of 
words  and  phrases  give  a  careless  and  sometimes  unculti- 
vated tone  to  spoken  English ;  Cm' on,  for  come  on;  's  week 
for  this  week;  'st  week,  for  next  week;  whad-ju-say,  for 
what  did  you  say;  etc.  You  should  not  be  priggish  and 
tiresome  in  the  enunciation  of  these  familiar  phrases;  nei- 
ther should  you  be  neglectful. 

1.  Pronounce  many  times  aloud  the  phrases  and  combi- 
nations in  the  following  list,  giving  each  letter  its  value : 

did  you  do  you  want  to  go  next  month 

don't  you  where  are  you  going  last  Sunday 

what  do  you  mean  what  are  you  doing  just  so 

go   on  what's  the  matter 

our  hours   are   short  that's  right 

2.  Below  is  a  list  of  words  commonly  slurred  in  pro- 
nunciation. Pronounce  each  one  many  times,  giving  each 
syllable  its  full  value : 


SPOKEN  ENGLISH 


129 


arctic 

motive 

natural 

barrel 

gentleman 

ordinary 

carriage 

geography 

picture 

chocolate 

government 

poem 

cruel 

help 

poet 

diamond 

helped 

poetry 

different 

history 

real 

evening 

ideal 

recognize 

extraordinary 

institution 

regular 

February 

kept 

ruin 

friendship 

laboratory 

separate 

valid 

literature 

several 

creature 

miserable 

transportation 

plaintiff 

morning 

tomorrow 

sheriff 

nature 

yesterday 

Pronounce  all  words  ending  in  ijf,  id,  ive  as  spelled — not 
as  if  they  were  spelled  uffy  ud,  or  uv. 

3.  Don't  drop  your  final  g*s  in  words    ending    in   ing. 

going  reading  writing 

speaking  acting  calling 

5.  Careful  pronunciation. — A  habit  of  correct  pronun- 
ciation is  not  set  up  without  study,  and  much  careful 
practice. 

1.  The  pronunciation  of  words  is  indicated  in  your  dic- 
tionary by  certain  signs  invented  to  show  the  value  assigned 
by  good  usage  to  each  letter  that  has  more  than  one  value. 
You  should  be  so  familiar  with  these  signs  (called  diacrit- 
ical marks)  that  you  can  read  at  a  glance  the  pronuncia- 
tion of  a  word  given  in  your  dictionary. 

The  following  are  the  more  important  diacritical  marks 
for  the  vowels.  They  are  drawn  from  Webster's  Interna- 
tional Dictionary  and  are  used  also  in  Webster's  Secon- 
dary School  Dictionary. 

5  as  in  ate,  fate,  lab 'or  &  as  in  S,m,  add,  ran'dom 

a  "  "  sen'ate,  del'icMe,  5-e'rial        S  "  "  arm,  far,  fa'ther 

A  "  "  cdre,  shdre,  pdr'ent  a  "  "  ask,  grass,  pass,  dance 


130 


ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


6  as  in  6dd,  n6t,  tSr'rid,  6ccur' 

u 

H 

u 


a  as  in  fi'nal,  in'fant,  guidance 

a  "  "  all,  awe,  swarm,  talk 

"  eve,  mete,  serene' 

"  gvent',  depend',  soci'^ty 

"  Snd,  mSt,  Excuse',  Efface 

"  fern,  her,  er'mine,  ev'er  ti  "  "  tip,  tub,  stud'y 

"  re'cent,  de'cency,  pru'dence  H  "  "  ^rn,  itr,  conctir' 

"  ice,  time,  sight,  inspire'  J  "  "  Ay,  my.  W 

"  idea',  tribu'nal,  y  "  "  pit'y,  in'jury,  divin'ity 

"  ill,  pin,  pit'y,  admit'  oo  "  "  fool,  food,  moon 

"  old,  note,  o'ver,  propose'  06  "  "  foot,  wool,  book 


"  "  iise,  pure,  du'ty,  assume' 

"  "  Unite',  ac'tuate,  educa'tion 

*'  "  rude,  ru'mor,  intrude' 

u  "  "  full,  put,  fulfill' 

ti  "  ' 


6bey',  t6bac'co,  sor'r6w 
orb,  lord,  6r'der,  abhor' 


ou 


out,  thou,  devour' 


"  "  oil,  noi'sy,  avoid' 
Pronounce  the  following  words,  observing  the  diacritical 


marks : 
hate 
labor 
delicate 
after 
basket 
branch 
half 
father 
arm 
casket 
algebra 
alarm 
albino 


alcohol 

calm 

balm 

France 

dance 

grass 

parent 

eve 

event 

serene 

6nd 

send 

her 


fern 

erode 

err 

error 

item 

unite 

pine 

ice 

pin 

pity 

permit 

note 

over 


proposal 
not 
knot 
occur 
lord 
Crder 
organize 
use 
duly 
resume 
rude 
mute 


mutter 

mutton 

multiply 

tumult 

rural 

tune 

rudiment 

full 

pull 

tulle 

pulpit 

pfirl 


ffirl 

tug 

tlib 

tunnel 

tuck 

fool 

book 

room 

took 

out 

indemnity 

indemnify 


Exercise  2 
1.  Consult  your  dictionary  when  necessary  and  spell  out, 
using  the  proper  diacritical  marks,  the  following  words : 


glass 

agile 

rebate 

tumble 

rafter 

role 

clarity 

hurt 

atom 

culinary 

cloth 

hustle 

omen 

student 

clothes 

satan 

task 

open 

identity 

Satanic 

basis 

often 

identify 

labor 

rout 

tease 

tumor 

laborious 

route 

clear 

tunic 

urgent 

SPOKEN  ENGLISH 


131 


2.  The  following  are  groups  of  words  peculiarly  liable  to 
mispronunciation.  Study  them  carefully  and  look  up  the 
less  familiar  of  them  in  your  dictionary,  both  for  pronunci- 
ation and  for  meaning : 

a)  A  large  group  of  words  containing  the  sound  of  long 
u,  must  not  be  pronounced  as  if  this  sound  was  oo. 


avenue 

new 

tumor 

Tuesday- 

due 

tunic 

tune 

duty 

stupid 

student 

opportunity 

manufacture 

endure 

institute 

constitution 

produce 

tutor 

tube 

h)  The  words  spelled  with  oo  vary  widely  in  their  pro- 
nunciation. Look  up  the  correct  pronunciation  of  the  fol- 
lowing : 


root 

proof 

wool 

brook 

spook 

room 

soot 

boot 

nook 

door 

bloom 

boon 

book 

shook 

floor 

roof 

tooth 

took 

tool 

poor 

hoof 

foot 

toot 

soon 

cool 

broom 

fool 

loot 

boor 

good 

coop 

blood 

cook 

spoon 

crook 

flood 

moon 

look 

spool 

droop 

c)  The  following  commonly  used  words  have  each  a  silent 
or  unpronounced  letter.  Write  off  the  list,  crossing  out  the 
silent  letter  after  the  word  is  written. 


almond 

column 

salmon 

answer 

fasten 

salve 

hustle 

^            half 

soften 

calf 

hasten 

solder 

castle 

heaven 

sword 

chasten 

nestle 

hymn 

christen 

often 

wrestle 

d)  The  following  words  are  sufficiently  alike  in  sound 
to  be  confused  in  pronunciation.    Read  them  aloud,  making 


132 


ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


surplice,  surplus 
bin,  been 


the  necessary  distinctions  in  sound.    Learn  the  meaning  of 
any  you  do  not  know . 

air,  are,  ere  close,  clothes 

e'er,  err  pillar,  pillow 

their,  there  feller,  fellow 

your,  yore  jest,  just,  gist 

do,  dew,  due  can,  kin,  ken 

poor,  pore,  pure  bust,  burst 

sects,  sex  formerly,  formally 

loath,  loathe  accept,  except 


news,  noose 
ere,  err,  ear 
hire,  higher 

lose,  loose 
for,  fur,  far 


e)  Some  foreign-born  students,  or  students  from  foreign 
families,  have  trouble  in  pronouncing  the  difficult  English 
th's  and  wh's.  Practice  faithfully  the  following  list.  Use 
each  of  the  words  in  a  sentence. 


thank 

thimble 

wheel 

that 

with 

where 

thaw 

worth 

whether 

the 

tenth 

weather 

then 

seventh 

whip 

them 

sixth 

white 

thin 

'           thirty 

whither 

think 

thirty-three 

whence 

thick 

what 

why 

/)  The  following  miscellaneous  common  words  are  fre- 
quently mispronounced.  Look  up  the  correct  pronuncia- 
tion in  your  dictionary  and  pronounce  them  many  times 
aloud  correctly.  If  two  pronunciations  are  allowable,  the 
dictionary  gives  the  preferred  one  first. 


acoustics 

autopsy 

component 

aeroplane 

awkward 

coupon 

aged 

aye 

deficit 

alias 

because 

detail 

alibi 

blessed 

diphtheria 

apron 

brought 

does 

athlete 

champion 

economic 

attorney 

column 

errand 

SPOKEN  ENGLISH 


133 


error 

inaugurate 

rather 

farther 

inquiry 

rheumatism 

faucet 

inventory 

rhythm 

figure 

irregular 

route 

film 

juncture 

softly 

finance 

leisure 

specialty 

further 

length 

stomach 

furrow 

magazine 

studious 

guardian 

mischievous 

subtle 

harrow 

municipal 

suite 

hearth 

narrow 

theater 

height 

once 

thought 

honest 

opponent 

tomato 

hospital 

overalls 

twice 

hospitable 

perfume 

unanimous 

hostile 

potato 

vaudeville 

hundred 

predicament 

volume 

idea 

preparation 

window 

illustrate 

puncture 

3.  In  English  words  of  more  than  one  syllable  there  is  a 
stress  on  one  syllable  called  accent — pro-tecf,  pro-tec'tion, 
unpro-tec't-ed,  inau'-gu-rate,  in-au-gu-ra'  tion.  This  is 
indicated  in  your  dictionary  as  shown  in  these  words,  by 
an  acute  accent.  In  a  large  group  of  words  the  meaning 
of  the  word  changes  with  the  accent.    Study  the  following : 


abstract 

abstract 

insert 

insert 

conflict 

conflict 

insult 

insult 

compound 

compound 

o'bject 

object 

content 

content 

produce 

produce 

contrast 

contrast 

rebel 

rebel 

compact 

compact 

refuse 

refuse 

convict 

convict 

subject 

subject 

desert 

desert  ' 

survey 

survey 

discount 

discount 

suspect 

suspect 

134  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

Exercise  3 

1.  Use  each  of  the  words  in  the  foregoing  list  in  a  sen- 
tence of  your  own. 

2.  Add  to  the  list  ten  words  whose  meaning  or  function 
changes  with  the  accent. 

6.  Telephone  English. —  It  is  especially  important,  in  the 
transaction  of  business  over  the  telephone,  to  observe  the 
cautions  as  to  pleasant,  courteous,  and  correct  speech; 
because  the  total  impression  must  be  made  by  the  words 
and  the  voice.  Telephone  etiquette  has  some  quite  well- 
defined  rules. 

1.  Never  ask  when  you  call.  Who  is  this?  Ask,  75  this 
Orr  &  Lochettf    Is  this  Mr.  Bruce' s  residence? 

2.  Speak  pleasantly,  clearly,  and  correctly  as  in  conver- 
sation. 

3.  Never  be  ''fresh"  or  take  any  liberties  you  would  not 
take  in  a  face-to- face  interview. 

4.  Never  lose  your  temper. 

5.  If  you  call,  and  for  a  business  consultation,  have  your 
business  jotted  down  in  notes  before  you  begin  to  talk. 

6.  If  you  are  a  young  employee,  or  a  junior  of  any  kind  in 
a  business,  don't  use  the  telephone  for  personal  or  social 
affairs.  Don't  allow  your  family  or  friends  to  call  you 
over  the  business  telephone  except  in  emergencies. 

7.  An  agreement,  a  promise,  or  an  appointment  of  import- 
ance made  by  telephone,  should  be  immediately  confirmed 
in  writing  for  the  record  and  memorandum. 

B.  MAKING  A  SPEECH 

We  can  not  undertake  here  instruction  in  a  course  in 
public  speaking,  for  that  is  a  quite  elaborate  course  of 
study  and  practice  in  itself,  full  enough  and  important 
enough  to  stand  alone. 


SPOKEN  ENGLISH  135 


Neither  is  this  the  place  to  give  a  course  of  lessons  in 
formal  debating.  The  processes  that  underlie  formal  debate 
are  difficult  and  abstract,  and  can  not  be  mastered,  or  even 
remotely  grasped,  in  a  few  lessons.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  principles  of  debating  tend  to  create  dire  confusion 
when  they  are  handled  in  any  superficial  or  hasty  way. 
Luckily  it  is  only  in  a  rather  narrow  field  of  business  activ- 
ity that  the  theories  and  methods  of  technical  debating  are 
useful ;  most  business  transactions  proceed  by  a  much  sim- 
pler and  more  natural  process. 

However,  while  we  do  not  propose  to  encroach  upon  the 
field  of  public  speaking,  or  of  formal  debating,  we  can  give 
the  essential  practical  directions  that  are  needed  in  the 
making  of  a  speech ;  and  we  can  give  some  practice  in  the 
affirmative  aspects  of  argument — the  principles  of  convic- 
tion and  persuasion. 

In  our  day  of  business,  social,  and  philanthropic  co-oper- 
ation, everybody  has  to  know  how  to  make  a  speech — as  a 
matter  of  fact,  every  important  business  transaction  is  a 
series  of  speeches,  employing  the  same  tactics  as  a  single 
speech. 

Realize,  first  of  all,  that  nothing  but  the  habit  of  saying 
well  what  you  have  to  say  will  equip  you  for  all  the  con- 
tingencies of  speech-making.  To  say  this  is  to  utter  in  a 
certain  sense  a  paradox.  For  you  may  well  say,  *'But  it 
is  the  making  of  speeches  that  gives  practice  enough  to 
form  the  habit, ' '  and  this  is  partly  true.  But  there  are  a  few 
exercises  by  which  you  can  discipline  yourself  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  actual  speech-making. 

1.  You  are  always  thinking — that  is,  ideas  and  images 
are  always  passing  through  your  mind.  Force  yourself  to 
put  them  into  words  and  sentences.  Don't  let  impressions 
and  meditations  drift  in  and  out  of  your  consciousness  as 
mere  fragments  or  as  detached  ideas.     Think  them  out  in 


136  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

detail.  Connect  them  with  companion  thoughts  and  ideas 
and  force  them  into  words.  As  you  walk  about  on  your 
errands,  as  you  go  to  your  place  of  business  in  the  cars, 
spend  consciously  every  day  an  hour  or  more  catching  and 
expressing  in  good  sentences  the  things  that  come  into  your 
mind. 

2.  As  often  as  possible  speak  these  thoughts  aloud.  A 
child  talks  to  himself,  to  his  toys,  to  his  pillow,  to  his  shoes, 
to  his  shadow;  just  as  when  he  plays  ''house"  or  ''store," 
he  is  practicing  those  powers  he  will  need  in  real  life,  so 
in  this  talk  he  is  rehearsing  those  ' '  dialogues  of  business, 
love,  or  strife"  that  he  will  later  engage  in,  in  all  serious- 
ness. You  can  learn  much  from  this  important  psycholog- 
ical and  educational  fact.  You  will  gain  real  proficiency 
by  rehearsing  to  yourself  speeches  you  might  make  to 
clients  or  to  audiences. 

3.  Read  a  brief  editorial  or  a  short  article  in  a  maga- 
zine. Close  the  book  and  reproduce  it,  following  the  train 
of  reasoning  but  never  memorizing  the  words;  gradually 
increase  the  length  and  difficulty  of  the  things  you  repro- 
duce. 

4.  Read  aloud  a  great  deal.  This  exercises  and  educates 
your  sense  of  the  flow  and  rhythm  of  sentences,  and  creates 
a  habit  of  complete  sentence  making. 

A  speech  varies  in  length  and  formality  from  the  "few 
remarks"  or  the  social  after-dinner  speech  to  the  lecture, 
the  address,  the  oration.  Our  study  has  to  do  chiefly  with 
the  speech  a  business  man  needs  often  to  make— a  speech 
designed  to  give  practical  information  and  to  produce 
practical  results. 

1.  The  parts  of  a  speech. — Every  typical,  model  speech 
of  this  kind  has  four  parts : 

1 .  The  introductory  section      3.  The  persuading  section 

2.  The  convincing  section         4.  The  closing  section 


SPOKEN  ENGLISH  ^37 


1.  The  introductory  section. — 'This  will  vary  with  the 
occasion  and  the  subject.  In  general  it  is  as  if  you  had 
just  been  introduced  to  a  person  upon  whom  you  desire  to 
make  a  pleasant  impression.  You  don't  want  to  offer  the 
stalest  commonplaces — neither  do  you  want  to  amaze  and 
startle  him.  You  would  like  to  start  your  speech,  too,  with 
a  note  of  cordial  pleasure,  that  will  make  the  company  feel 
that  it  is  a  pleasure  to  you  to  contribute  what  you  have  to 
give.  In  what  we  may  call  a  business  speech,  it  is  not 
well  to  be  as  funny  as  you  can  be  in  your  introduction; 
leave  this  for  a  social  speech. 

Personal  disclaimers  are  in  bad  taste;  if  you  are  really 
totally  '-surprised, "if  you  do  feel  tremblingly  modest  and 
humble  and  ignorant,  you  should  not,  in  justice  to  your  sub- 
ject and  your  audience,  be  there  at  all. 

Announce  in  this  introductory  part  your  subject  and  the 
precise  aspect  of  it  that  you  are  going  to  handle — the  limits 
of  treatment  that  you  have  set  yourself.  Make  your  intro- 
duction as  brief  as  possible,  and  pass  as  soon  as  you  can 
to  the  treatment  of  your  topic. 

2.  The  conviction. — In  this  second  section  you  state  your 
facts,  make  your  points,  bring  forward  your  evidence,  and 
introduce  your  proof.  The  evidence  and  the  proof  need 
not  be  the  formal,  technical  matters  of  formal  debate  or 
legal  argument;  in  a  speech  of  the  kind  we  are  discussing 
they  may  be  matters  of  simple  demonstration  or  objective 
evidence.  This  section  may  be  quite  long,  filling  up  the 
whole  body  of  your  speech. 

In  a  report,  for  example,  this  convincing  or  explaining 
material  may  well  constitute  the  whole  speech. 

In  a  lecture — practical  or  learned — this  is  practically  the 
only  kind  of  material  introduced.  If  you  would  not  take 
it  too  seriously,  we  might  call  this  the  intellectual  section 
of  your  speech. 


138  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

It  is  always  well  to  open  your  convincing  section  with  a 
very  strong  argument.  If  your  speech  consists  of  convinc- 
ing matter  only,  reserve  also  a  strong  argument  to  close 
with. 

3.  The  persuasion. — This  section  contains  the  urgency 
to  action.  Assuming  that  you  have  made  the  points  clear 
in  your  previous  section,  that  you  have  given  ample  proof 
and  adequate  evidence,  that  you  have  made  plain  the  pur- 
pose or  function  of  the  device  or  plan  you  are  discussing, 
you  now  drive  it  home.  You  ask  your  audience  in  effect, 
* '  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it  ? ' '  Here  you  show  how 
important  action  or  decision  is — ^how  easy,  how  profitable, 
how  cheap,  how  desirable  in  every  way — and  on  the  other 
hand  how  unprofitable,  how  costly,  how  disastrous,  or  how 
fatal,  would  be  the  failure  to  act.  In  many  kinds  of 
speeches  this  section  constitutes  the  body  of  the  speech — 
in  political  campaign  speeches,  in  hortatory  sermons,  for 
example.  "When  you  are  speaking  to  a  motion  that  some- 
one has  made,  it  is  generally  persuading  matter  that  you 
use;  you  are,  as  a  rule,  supporting  the  other  person's 
appeal,  he  having  presumably  created  the  conviction.  If 
your  whole  speech  is  persuasive,  you  should  generally  begin 
and  end  with  a  strong  appeal.  If  you  present  also  the  con- 
vincing matter,  it  is  well  to  arrange  your  persuasion  in  a 
climax  leading  up  to  your  strongest  appeal.  You  may 
call  this  part  of  your  speech  the  emotional  section — still 
bearing  in  mind  that  these  designations  are  only  sugges- 
tions, not  fixed  technical  terms. 

4.  The  closing  section. —  This  may  vary  infinitely,  being 
adapted  to  your  material,  your  occasion,  and  your  audi- 
ence. If  you  are  making  a  convincing  speech  only,  close 
with  one  of  your  most  effective  points  so  as  to  leave  a 
strong  impression;  you  may  need  no  other  closing  words.. 


SPOKEN  ENGLISH  139 


In  making  a  persuasive  speech,  it  is  often  best  to  lead  up  to 
the  strongest  appeal  you  have  and  leave  it  there.  Some- 
times it  is  very  effective  to  sum  up  both  the  argument  and 
the  persuasion  so  as  to  leave  both  fresh  in  the  minds  of  your 
hearers. 

When  circumstances  call  for  it,  thanks  for  the  privilege 
of  speaking  and  for  the  attention  you  have  received  make 
a  graceful  close.  In  any  event,  make  your  closing  section 
brief.  Do  not  announce  it  by  finally,  in  the  last  place,  or 
any  such  phrase.  If  you  have  developed  your  thought 
properly,  your  hearers  will  see  that  you  are  coming  to  the 
end.  Be  severe  on  any  tendency  you  discover  in  yourself 
to  linger  on  and  on,  trying  to  find  the  right  last  word. 
Should  you  feel  that  you  have  not  found  the  most  graceful 
and  fitting  conclusion,  then — quit. 

Experience  and  persistence  will  enable  you  to  master  this 
difficulty.  Don 't  allow  yourself  to  think  that  a  speech  con- 
sisting of  these  four  parts  is  a  mold  into  which  you  must 
run  your  thoughts.  It  is  simply  a  convenient  classifica- 
tion of  the  material  usually  found  in  such  a  speech  as  we 
are  discussing,  and  forms  a  convenient  working  basis  in 
the  preparation  of  a  speech. 

2.  The  preparation  of  a  speech. — 1.  Know  your  topic 
from  A  to  Izzard.  If  you  are  presenting  something  you 
want  to  sell,  know  its  history ;  its  function ;  the  things  for 
which  you  want  to  substitute  it ;  its  points  of  difference  from 
others  in  its  class;  its  superiorities;  and  above  all,  its  infe- 
riorities, if  it  has  them.  Not  only  must  you  know  it,  you 
must  believe  in  it.  Don't  sell  or  advocate  anything  you 
don't  believe  in.  Keep  studying  it.  If  you  are  selling  a 
copper-bottomed  wash-boiler,  ask  yourself,  ''Why  copper?" 
and  find  out.  If  you  are  advocating  a  public  playground, 
know    the    neighborhood    completely;    know    other    play- 


;[40 ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

grounds;  learn  the  details  of  equipment  and  management. 
Keep  studying  your  product  or  your  problem.  You  will 
find  great  vistas  opening  out  of  it  into  many  other  fields  of 
thought. 

2.  Think  about  your  topic,  turn  it  over  in  your  mind, 
and  see  it  from  many  points  of  view.  Jot  down  promptly, 
and  at  random,  any  thoughts  that  come  to  you,  trying  to 
phrase  them  well  from  the  beginning. 

3.  Begin  to  analyze  your  topic  into  its  items,  or  stages 
of  thought,  and  arrange  your  random  thoughts  under  these. 

4.  To  this  end,  consider  the  oecr.sion,  the  audience,  and 
the  time  allowed  you — all  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  speech  is  to  be  given.  Adjust  the  size  of  your  topic  to 
these  conditions.     For  example: 

If  you  were  going  to  address  a  commencement  audience 
and  speak  for  an  hour  and  a  quarter,  you  might  take  the 
topic  ''Business  Education." 

If  you  were  going  to  speak  to  a  convention  of  commercial 
teachers,  you  might  narrow  the  topic  to  "Business  English." 

If  you  were  speaking  to  a  club  of  young  business  people, 
you  might  be  content  with  "How  to  Write  a  Business 
Letter,"  or  more  narrowly  still,  "How  to  Reply  to  a 
Complaint." 

Your  procedure  will  vary  with  all  these  conditions; 
should  you  have  a  whole  hour  and  a  limited  topic,  you  can 
go  in  for  an  exhaustive  treatment;  if  you  have  only  a 
few  minutes  on  a  crowded  program,  you  will  try  to  find 
the  most  telling  points  in  your  topic  and  handle  them  as 
quickly  as  possible. 

5.  This  is  saying  that  your  speech  must  be  relevant; 
nowhere  else  is  relevancy  so  effective  as  in  the  short  speech. 
"We  need  some  illustrations  of  this  principle. 

Suppose  you  are  making  a  speech  on  the  opening  of  a 
public    playground   in   your   town   or   city   neighborhood. 


SPOKEN  ENGLISH  14| 


The  point  is  not  recreation  in  general — you  would  not, 
therefore,  go  into  the  hygienic  and  educational  value  of 
play.  The  point  is  not  games  and  sport — ^you  would 
not  go  in  for  an  exposition  of  the  physical  and  social  profit 
of  group-play.  You  would  shape  your  material  to  suit 
your  topic — the  desirability  of  a  public  playground  in  your 
neighborhood. 

Again,  suppose  you  are  speaking  on  ' '  The  need  of  keep- 
ing open  in  the  evening  the  reading-room  of  our  public 
library."  You  would  not  open  up  the  history  of  libraries^ 
nor  even  of  public  libraries ;  you  would  not  discuss  reading, 
its  educational  bearing,  its  dangers,  the  choice  of  books ;  you 
would  not  discuss  the  general  or  particular  advantages  of 
public  reading-rooms;  the  focus  of  your  topic  is  open 
evenings,  and  to  this  focus  you  shape  your  material. 

Again,  suppose  you  are  to  speak  on  the  topic,  *'The  pro- 
hibition of  Chinese  immigration  by  law."  You  would  not 
waste  time  on  immigration  in  general;  on  the  Chinese, 
except  incidentally;  or  on  the  prohibition  of  immigration; 
the  focus  of  your  speech  probably  would  be.  Shall  we  pro- 
hibit by  law  or  by  treaty?  and  to  this  you  would  devote 
yourself,  giving  perhaps  an  introductory  glance  at  the 
other  aspects. 

6.  Thus  will  circumstances  determine  the  scope  and 
nature  of  your  speech — whether  it  is  to  be  convincing,  or 
persuasive,  or  both.  Having  decided  this,  and  having  found 
the  point  for  emphasis,  divide  your  material  just  as  you 
divide  it  for  the  paragraphs  of  a  written  composition, 
according  to  the  items,  the  steps,  the  stages  of  your  thought, 

Set  down  the  topics  of  these  paragraphs  in  their  nat- 
ural, their  logical,  or  their  effective  order,  and  make  them 
the  basis  of  your  further  thinking.  Go  over  them  many 
times,  amplifying  them  and  analyzing  them,  until  you  feel 


142  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

you  have  mastered  them.  Do  not  memorize  these  or  any 
part  of  your  speech.  If  you  must  have  notes  in  hand  when 
you  speak,  have  nothing  but  these  paragraph  topics  to 
serve  as  reminders.  But  it  is  better  to  learn  to  speak  with- 
out notes.  Rethink  on  your  feet  the  things  you  have 
thought  out  beforehand. 

Exercise  4 

1.  Write  a  quiz  of  twenty  questions  on  making  a  speech. 
They  must  be  questions  that  you  can  answer  either  from 
memory  or  from  consulting  the  foregoing  text.  None  of 
them  should  be  answerable  by  a  mere  yes  or  no. 


General  Exercises  in  Business  Composition 

1.  You  want  to  organize  a  Clean  Streets  Club.  Make 
a  ten-minute  speech  that  will  show  the  need  for  the  club 
and  will  persuade  your  audience  to  join. 

2.  You  are  to  make  a  twenty-minute  speech  on  ''The 
desirability  of  a  public  playground  in  our  neighborhood." 
Let  it  have  the  four  parts  of  a  typical  speech. 

Make  notes  for  this  speech. 

3.  You  are  given  five  minutes  on  the  program  of  your 
neighborhood  improvement-club  to  speak  on  "Keeping 
open  the  public  reading-room  in  the  evening."  Make  out 
the  paragraph  topics  for  this  speech. 

4.  You  are  to  speak  to  the  Improvement  Club  for  an  hour 
on  certain  improvements  needed  in  your  neighborhood : 

a)  A  public  recreation  hall. 

hj  A  public  playground. 

c)  Systematic  care  of  vacant  lots. 

Outline  your  speech.  Make  the  persuasion  and  appeal 
strong. 

5.  ' '  Should  school  buildings  be  open  on  Saturday  and  in 
the  evening  as  social  centers?"  Prepare  a  twenty -minute 
speech  on  whichever  view  you  take  of  this  question.  Do 
not  advocate  a  view  you  do  not  hold  merely  for  the  sake 
of  practice. 

6.  Make  a  ten-minute  talk  on  each  of  the  following  topics : 

1.  The  effect  of  the  moving-picture  shows  on  the  support  of 
the  regular  theaters. 

2.  The  influence  of  the  moving-picture  shows  on  the  regular 
stage. 

143 


144  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

3.  The  influence  of  the  moving-picture  plays  on  the  drama. 

4.  The  educational  possibilities  of  moving  pictures. 

5.  The  need  of  censorship  of  the  moving-picture  films. 

6.  The  dangers  to  morals  and  to  taste  of  the  moving-picture 
shows. 

7.  Combine  all  the  foregoing  topics  into  one  speech  on 
" Moving- Picture  Shows,"  with  an  introduction  and  con- 
clusion. 

8.  You  are  sales-manager  of  a  company  making  a  type- 
writer with  an  adding  machine  attached.  You  are  given 
fifteen  minutes  to  present  your  machine  before  a  company 
of  bookkeepers. 

Outline  your  speech. 

9.  You  have  twenty  minutes  on  the  program  of  a  farm- 
ers' convention,  to  present  the  merits  of  a  gasoline  pump 
you  are  selling.  Outline  your  speech,  making  the  conviction 
strong. 

Give  the  whole  speech. 

10.  You  have  twenty  minutes  before  the  wives  of  the 
farmers  to  talk  about  a  fireless  cooker  you  are  selling.  Out- 
line your  speech,  making  the  persuasion  strong. 

Give  the  whole  speech. 

11.  You  manage  the  advertising  of  a  local  grocery.  You 
have  twenty  minutes  to  speak  before  the  local  club  of  adver- 
tising managers  on  "How  I  Advertised  'Curly  Crisps'  " 
(a  cereal  breakfast  food.)  You  have  used  at  least  three 
methods  of  advertising. 

Outline  the  speech. 

12.  You  are  publicity  manager  of  a  wholesale  firm  of 
jewelers  and  silversmiths.  You  have  thirty  minutes  at  a 
session  of  the  Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of  America  to 
speak  on  "Creating  an  Atmosphere  in  a  Mail-Order  Cata- 
logue.'* 

Outline  your  speech,  giving  rather  close  detail. 

13.  You  are  traffic  manager  of  a  railroad;  you  make  an 


SPOKEN  ENGLISH  145 


hour*s  speech  to  the  graduating  class  of  a  Business  College 
on  ''The  opportunity  for  young  business  men  as  traffic 
experts. ' ' 

Make  the  introduction  especially  strong. 

14.  Prepare  a  detailed  outline  of  a  speech  of  thirty  min- 
utes on  ''What  my  course  in  Business  English  did  for  me." 

There  is  no  call  for  persuasion. 

15.  Prepare  a  twenty-minute  speech  on  "The  business 
value  of  a  knowledge  of  the  Spanish  language." 

Make  a  strong  introduction. 

16.  You  are  a  teacher  of  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish. 
Outline  a  speech  from  that  point  of  view  on  the  topic 
assigned  in  15,  making  the  persuasion  strong. 

17.  Outline  a  thirty-minute  speech  on  ' '  How  our  consular 
service  may  promote  American  business." 

18.  Outline  a  thirty-minute  speech  on  "The  work  of  the 
Bureau  of  Domestic  and  Foreign  Commerce. ' ' 

Other  topics  may  be  added  or  substituted  according  to 
the  needs  and  experience  of  the  class.  It  would  be  well  to 
have  each  member  of  the  class  suggest  one  or  more  topics 
on  which  he  would  like  to  speak.  The  following  topics  are 
suggested : 

1.  What   occupation   do  you   wish   to    follow?     What   are   the 
reasons  of  your  choice? 

2.  How  should  the  smoke  problem  of  a  city  be  handled? 

3.  What  is  a  monopoly? 

4.  What  is  a  trust? 

5.  How  a  business  girl  should  dress. 

6.  "Watching  the  clock." 

7.  The  minimum  wage. 

8.  A  course   in  Business  English. 

9.  Opportunities  for  women  in   accountancy. 

10.  Running  a  pop-corn  cart  at  a  summer  resort. 

11.  The  farm  and  the  telephone. 

12.  The  farm  and  the  automobile. 


146  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

13.  Why  advertising  space  in  farm  papers  costs  more  for  Janu- 
ary-March than  for  June-August. 

14.  Inventing  trade-marks. 

15.  "Mining  the  scrap-heap." 

16.  Marketing  is  years  behind  production. 

17.  Retail  delivery  and  the  high  cost  of  living. 

18.  Co-operative  delivery  among  retailers. 

19.  Marketing  by  telephone  and  the  high  cost  of  living. 


CHAPTER  X 

SPELLING 

Spelling  and  punctuation  belong  to  written  English,  as 
pronunciation  and  enunciation  to  spoken  English.  The 
spelling  of  English  words  is  difficult  and  confusing. 

1.  It  is  not  phonetic — that  is,  there  is  no  uniform  sound 
attached  to  a  letter  or  a  combination  of  letters;  your 
ear  for  sound,  no  matter  how  good,  is  not  always  a  safe 
guide. 

2.  The  same  sound  may  be  represented  by  several  dif- 
ferent letters  and  combinations  of  letters,  as,  for  example : 
-Hon,  -cion,  -sion;  the  first  sound  of  the  words,  sister,  city, 
science;  or  the  final  sound  in  doze,  lose. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  English  spelling  must  be  mastered 
by  sheer  application,  and  kept  by  sheer  dint  of  memory. 
There  are  certain  well-known  and  practically  successful 
processes  that  help  to  fix  the  word  in  the  memory  and  set 
up,  as  it  were,  correct  habits  with  reference  to  that  word. 
The  following  are  some  of  them : 

1.  Read  the  letters  over  many  times,  silently. 

2.  Write  it  off  on  a  typewriter,  so  as  to  see  it  in  its  printed 
form  many  times.  This  process  deepens  your  visual  image 
of  it. 

3.  Write  it  off  many  times  with  your  pen,  so  as  to  get  a 
motion  image  of  its  spelling. 

4.  Spell  it  aloud  many  times,  so  as  to  get  an  auditory 
image  of  it. 

5.  Classify  it  among  words  spelled  in  the  same  way. 

6.  If  it  is  a  word  you  have  frequent  use  for,  put  it  down 

147 


148  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

in  a  list  of  such  words,  which  you  review  from  time  to  time, 
and  in  the  spelling  of  which  you  give  yourself  frequent 
tests. 

There  are  a  few  customs  that  English  spelling  observes; 
we  can  not,  strictly  speaking,  call  them  rules.  But  they  are 
uniform  enough  to  enable  us  to  group  together  certain 
classes  of  words  and  so  help  out  our  memory.  Such  groups 
of  words — containing  those  in  which  mistakes  in  spelling 
are  most  likely  to  occur — are  given  below.  But  when  we 
have  made  all  possible  classifications  there  remains  a  vast 
store  of  frequently  used  words  whose  peculiarities  of  spell- 
ing are  unclassifiable. 

The  examples  given  under  each  rule  or  statement  of  prac- 
tice should  be  mastered  and  the  rule  or  statement  noted  for 
future  reference. 

1.  The  spelling  of  derivatives.— 1.  Study  the  following : 

mat,  matted,  matting 
run,  running,  runner 
sad,  sadder,  saddest 
compel,  compelled,  compelling 
prefer,  preferred,  preferring 
grin,  grinned,  grinning 
thin,   thinner,   thinnest 
propel,  propeller,  propelling 

These  words  exemplify  the  following  rule:  A  word  (1) 
of  one  syllable,  or  a  word  (2)  accented  on  the  last  syllable 
when  (3)  it  ends  in  a  single  consonant,  (4)  before  which 
stands  a  single  vowel,  doubles  the  final  consonant  (5)  when 
it  takes  a  termination  beginning  with  a  vowel. 

2.  Notice  these : 

will,  willing,  willed 
dull,  dullness 
full,  fullness,  fuller 
help,  helper,  helpful 
talk,  talker,  talking 


SPELLING  149 


Words  that  end  in  a  double  consonant  or  any  two  con- 
sonants usually  keep  the  two  consonants  no  matter  what 
termination  they  take. 

3.  Notice  these: 

wonder,  wondering,  wondered 
answer,  answering,  answered 
offer,  offered,  offering 
alter,  altered,  altering 

Words  accented  on  any  syllable  but  the  last  do  not 
double  the  final  consonant. 

4.  Notice  these: 

gain,  gainer,   gaining 
lean,  leaner,  leanest 
cheap,  cheaper,  cheapest 

Words  that  have  two  vowels  before  a  single  final  con- 
sonant   do  not  double  the  final  consonant. 

5.  Notice  these: 

trim,  trimly 

flat,  flatly,  flatness 

fat,  fatness 

sad,   sadness,   sadly 

mad,  madness,  madly 

When  the  words  described  in  1  above  take  a  termination 
that  does  not  begin  with  a  vowel,  they  do  not  double  the 
single  final  consonant. 

6.  Notice  these: 

pale,  paleness,  paling 
hate,  hateful,  hating 
excite,  excitement,  exciting 
move,  movement,  moving 
sale,  salable 
force,  forcible,  forceful 

Words  ending  in  a  silent  e  keep  the  e  when  they  take  a 
termination  beginning  with  a  consonant;  they  drop  the  e 
when  the  termination  begins  with  a  vowel  (except  in  cer- 


150  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

tain  words  noted  below  where  there  is  a  reason  for  keeping 
the  e). 

7.  Notice  these : 

notice,  noticeable 

change,  changeable  v  ' 

charge,  chargeable 

peace,  peaceable 

advantage,  advantageous 

In  these  words  and  a  few  others  the  e  is  retained  to  secure 
the  right  pronunciation  of   c  and  g. 

Other  exceptions  to  rule  6  are :  wholly,  nursling,  wisdom, 
abridgment,  lodgment,  judgment,  and  their  compounds. 

8.  Notice  these : 

die,  dying 
tie,  tying 
lie,  lying 

Words  ending  in  ie  change  the  i  into  y  before  -ing  to  pre- 
vent a  confusing  assemblage  of  vowels. 

9.  Notice  these : 

mercy,  merciful 
duty,  dutiful,  dutiable 
tidy,  tidiest,  tidiness,  tidily 
dry,  dryness 
shy,  shyness 

Words  of  more  than  one  syllable  ending  in  y  with  a  con- 
sonant before  it  change  the  y  into  i  before  all  terminations 
except  those  that  begin  with  i. 

But  before  -sJiip  and  -like  the  y  is  kept :  ladylike,  secre- 
taryship. 

Words  of  one  syllable  ending  in  y  generally  retain  the  y 
before  all  terminations.  Daily  is  an  exception.  You  will 
sometimes  see  slily  and  drily. 


SPELLING 


151 


Exercise  1 

In  this  exercise  write  out  each  word  in  full  and  be  able 
to  give  the  reason  for  your  spelling. 

1.  Add  the  termination  -ing  to  each  of  the  following 
words : 


chat 

cheat 

rot 

root 

prefer 

refer 


permit 

interfere 

retain 

benefit 

revel 

quarrel 

neglect 


infer 

creep 

wonder 

lap 

leap 

train 

trim 


intervene 

reveal 

repeal 

pursue 

erase 

control 

travel 


answer 
profit 
die 
try 

study 
carry 
manage 


2.  Add  the  termination   -ed  to  each   of  the   following 
words : 


suit 

fit 

sop 

soap 

escape 

acquire 


conceal 

arrange 

acquit 

marvel 

exhibit 

shovel 


select 

receipt 

answer 

step 

steep 

trot 


treat 

expel 

contain 

incur 

repel 

shelter 


render 

limit 

die 

try 

study 

carry 


3.  Add  the  termination  -ahle  to  the  following  words: 


charge 

change 

manage 

sale 

receive 

cure 

admire 


realize 

blame 

notice 

desire 

exchange 

avail 


marriage 

mortgage 

distinguish 

imagine 

damage 

dispense 

use 


4.  Add  the  termination  -ly  or  -ness  or  both,  when  possi- 
ble, to  each  of  the  following  words : 


busy 

shy 

definite 

dry 

gay 

nice 

truthful 

illegal 

Tv:ise 

day 

accurate 

mere 

152  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


near 

scholar 

unlawful 

identical 

loyal 

low 

false 

lucky 

true 

agreeable 

lusty 

5.  Add  the  termination  -er  or  -est  or  both  to  each  of  the 

following  words : 

fat  tall  fine 

sad  near  wet 

tidy  pretty  mad 

lucky  gay  witty 

dear  lovely  silly 

2.  The  spelling  of  plurals. — This  has  been  treated  under 
correct  grammatical  inflection  (Chapter  1, 1,  2)  with  copious 
examples.    It  may  be  reviewed  here  if  deemed  advisable. 

3.  Groups  of  words  whose  spelling  is  frequently  con- 
fused.— 1.  The  first  of  these  is  the  ''ei-ie"  group — words 
that  have  the  sound  of  long  e  sometimes  represented  by  ei, 
sometimes  by  ie.  There  are  two  ''rules  of  thumb"  that  will 
help  your  memory : 

a)  Write  e  or  i,  first,  according  to  the  place  in  the 
alphabet  of  the  letter  that  immediately  precedes  it — if 
this  letter  stands  nearer  e  use  e;  if  nearer  i,  use  i.  There 
are  some  exceptions  to  this — field,  fief. 

h)  What  amounts  to  the  same  thing  in  practice,  is 
contained  in  this  bit  of  rhyme : 

"When  the  letter  c  you  spy 
Put  the  e  before  the  i."  * 


ceil 

conceive 

brief 

field 

deceive 

conceit 

chief 

piece 

perceive 

receipt 

grief 

wield 

receive 

believe 

thief 

yield 

Exceptions — leisure,  weird,  seize. 

^  Quoted  here  from  Buhlig's  "Business  English.' 


SPELLING 


153 


2.  Confusion  arises  in  the  use  of  the  termination  -ise,  or 
-ize,  in  which  long  i  is  followed  by  the  sound  of  z.  The 
tendency  is  to  spell  this  termination  uniformly  -ize. 

But  usage  has  confirmed  the  -ise  in  the  following  words : 


advertise 

revise 

excise 

advise 

compromise 

exercise 

apprise 

demise 

exorcise 

arise 

despise 

franchise 

chastise 

devise 

improvise 

circumcise 

disfranchise 

incise 

comprise 

disguise 

surprise 

merchandise 

enfranchise 

surmise 

premise 

enterprise 

supervise 

3.  Study  the  following  lists : 

capable 

untenable 

edible 

curable 

respectable 

intelligible 

durable 

unbelievable 

divisible 

dutiable 

punishable 

responsible 

salable 

arable 

eligible 

laughable 

lovable 

collapsible 

noticeable 

admirable 

gullible 

immovable 

unendurable 

comprehensible 

chargeable 

possible 

adducible 

changeable 

horrible 

intangible 

amiable 

reducible 

perceptible 

inflammable 

visible 

permissible 

blamable 

audible 

sensible 

usable 

inexhaustible 

digestible 

variable 

indestructible 

infallible 

probable 

susceptible 

There  is  a  shadow  of  a  rule  to  be  deduced  from  these,  yet 
so  shadowy  that  one  hesitates  to  state  it.  It  is  this :  -able  is 
most  often  used  when  the  derivative  is  formed  from  an 
English  word  which  can  be  seen  in  the  derivative  as  a  com- 
plete word — as  blame  in  blameable,  laugh  in  laughable, 
love  in  lovable,  deny  in  undeniable;  -ible  is  the  termination 
of  words  taken  from  Latin  or  French,  and  the  root  can  not 


154  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

stand  alone  as  in  English  words — visible,  audible,  edible, 

etc. 

Exceptions  in  the   given  -able  list  are; 
amiable  capable  probable  arable 

Exceptions  in  the  given  -ible  list  are : 
reducible  gullible  sensible 

inexhaustible  adducible  digestible 

collapsible 

The  number  of  these  exceptions  in  lists  so  small  will  warn 
you  that  the  tentative  rule  given  will  serve  only  as  a  clue, 
not  as  a  guide. 

4.  Distinguish  between  -Hon  and  -sion;  -sion  is  the  spell- 
ing of  this  termination  in  derivatives  taken  from  verbs  end- 
ing in  -nd,  -de,  -ge,  -re,  -se,  -ss,  -mit,  -vert. 

apprehend,  apprehension  recede,  recession 

provide,  provision  proceed,  procession 

submerge,  submersion  possess,  possession 

immerse,   immersion  admit,  admission 

cohere,  cohesion  permit,    permission 

adhere,  adhesion  invert,  inversion 

confess,  confession  revert,  reversion 

Exceptions  are : 

attend,  attention;    intend,  intention;    contend,  contention 

In  all  other  cases  the  termination  is  spelled  -tion. 

construction  vacation       .  institution 

information  cultivation  education 

Apparent  exceptions  are  coercion  and  suspicion;  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact  the  termination  of  these  two  words  has  no 
connection  with  the  -tion  and  -sion  ending. 

Exercise  2 

Add  twenty  new  words  to  each  of  the  following  groups, 
spelling  them  out :  The  -able  group,  the  -ible  group,  the  -ize 
group,  the  -tion  group,  and  the  -sion  group. 


SPELLING 


155 


4.  Homonyms  not  spelled  alike. — The  spelling  of  that 
large  group  of  homonyms  spelled  differently  is  likely  to  give 
trouble.  A  list  of  such  homonyms  is  appended,  made  up  of 
those  words  that  are  most  likely  to  occur  in  ordinary  writ- 
ing. 

It  is  probable  that  it  would  not  be  well  to  give  this  list 
to  young  students.  It  might  suggest  difficulties  that  they 
have  never  encountered.  And  if  they  learned  these  words 
as  they  occurred  in  the  natural  course  of  their  reading  or 
spelling,  they  might  never  feel  any  uncertainty  as  to  their 
spelling.  This  every  teacher  may  judge  for  himself  from 
his  knowledge  of  the  class. 

But  every  adult  student  has  probably  encountered  the 
difficulty  and  will  be  glad  to  meet  his  enemies  in  battle- 
rank.  Look  up  the  meaning  of  these  words.  Use  each  of 
them  in  a  simple  sentence.  Write  off  several  times  the  sen- 
tences containing  the  words  that  have  confused  you,  to  fix 
the  correct  spelling  in  your  mind.  If  there  are  any  of  these 
words  you  have  never  used,  omit  them  from  your  exercise. 


aloud 

fair 

leased 

right 

allowed 

fare 

least 

rite 

ascent 

cereal 

miner 

wrote 

assent 

serial 

minor 

rote 

bad 

cession 

ore 

aisle 

bade 

session 

oar 

isle 

bear 

cede 

principal 

kill 

bear 

seed 

principle 

kiln 

bare 

cite 

scene 

sail 

by 

site 

seen 

sale 

buy 

sight 

been 

ceiling 

current 

foul 

bean 

sealing 

currant 

fowl 

stare 

rain 

draft 

gate 

stair 

rein 

draught 

gait 

wood 

reign 

canvas 

great 

would 

ought 

canvass 

grate 

write 

aught 

156 


ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


herd 

rest 

serge 

sane 

heard 

wrest 

surge 

seine 

key 

rap 

steal 

lone 

quay- 

wrap 

steel 

loan 

peer 

not 

wave 

threw 

pier 

knot 

waive 

through 

pore 

root 

due 

to 

pour 

route 

dew 

too 

profit 

ring 

waist 

two 

prophet 

wring 

waste 

air 

mane 

pale 

pane 

heir 

main 

pail 

pain 

ere 

pride 

need 

veil 

patience 

pried 

knead 

vale 

patients 

5.  Words  containing  silent  letters. — These  are  confusing 
to  young  students.  When  you  know  the  history  of  these 
words,  you  generally  see  the  reason  for  the  survival  of  this 
letter  in  writing  after  it  has  disappeared  in  speaking,  and 
the  spelling  of  such  words  becomes  easy.  In  the  meantime, 
they  simply  have  to  be  mastered  by  will  and  patience.  The 
following  are  some  of  the  commoner  words  that  have  silent 
letters : 


know 

knead 

dumb 

gnash 

knowledge 

knell 

bomb 

science 

knack 

knife 

thumb 

honor 

knot 

knock 

comb 

honest 

knuckle 

knob 

lamb 

ghost 

knave 

numb 

gnaw 

ghastly 

6.  Spelling  your  working  vocabulary. — Very  soon  after 
you  enter  a  business  you  will  accumulate  its  vocabulary; 
you  will  find  that  there  will  not  be  more  than  five  hundred 
words  that  you  use  with  any  frequency.  In  some  occupa- 
tions the  number  will  be  even  smaller.  These  you  must  set 
yourself  to  master.  Group  them  upon  any  principle  that 
seems  to  you  reasonable  and  easy,  and  master  the  spelling 
of  them  once  and  for  all.    You  may  group  them: 


SPELLING 


157 


1.  Simply  by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  making  them 
scientifically  alphabetical  and  mastering  them  in  order. 

2.  By  their  terminations — learn  all  the  -age  words,  all  the 
-al  words,  etc. 

3.  By  the  departments  in  which  they  are  used — all  the 
credit  words,  all  the  banking  words,  all  the  bookkeeping 
words,  etc.,  etc. 

The  process  of  mastering  them  will  be  the  process  of 
study  already  described  more  than  once,  combined  with 
their  constant  practical  use. 

Below  is  a  list  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  words,  every  one 
of  which  may  be  needed  by  anybody  attending  to  the  prac- 
tical ail^airs  of  life.  Master  these,  both  for  the  sake  of  know- 
ing them,  and  for  the  practice.  Divide  them  into  groups 
according  to  any  principle  that  you  care  to  work  out; 
or  simply  master  them  in  alphabetical  order.  Before 
you  leave  them,  know  their  meanings  and  be  able  to  use 
them  in  sentences.  Luckily,  many  of  them  you  will  know 
already. 

When  two  spellings  are  allowable  your  dictionary  gives 
the  preferred  first. 

avoirdupois  cancel 

ballot  capacity 

balance  capital 

bankruptcy  capitol 

bargain  carriage 

beneficiary  cashier 

benefit  casualty 

bicycle  censor 

build 

bureau 

business 

busy 

calendar 

calender 

campaign 


abbreviate        anxiety 
accession  apparent 

accommodate  appellate 
according  application 

accrue  appreciate 

across  arrange 

advantageous  arrival 


afford 

arrive 

afraid 

article 

almost 

ascent 

always 

assent 

already 

assess 

all  right 

assets 

although 

assignee 

analysis 

assignment 

censure 

character 

chattel 

chronic 

cipher 

collateral 

commend 


158 


ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


commercial 

equivalent 

laboratory 

optional 

commodity 

error 

landlord 

oscillate 

comparable 

erroneous 

lease 

ostensible 

competitor 

exaggerate 

ledger 

overhaul 

comptroller 

excellent 

legitimate 

overalls 

concede 

exchequer 

lessee 

parallel 

conciliate 

exhaust 

lessor 

parcel 

conscious 

facility 

levy 

particle 

consummate 

fascinate 

levied 

passable 

counterfeit 

financial 

libel 

pecuniary 

countersign 

financier 

lien 

peremptory 

damage 

foreign 

lieutenant 

perennial 

debt 

forfeit 

lightning 

permanent 

debtor 

fraudulent 

liquidate 

physical 

defense 

fulfil 

liquor 

plumber 

deficient 

gazette 

maintenance 

pneumatic 

deficit 

gazetteer 

management 

precede 

definite 

generally 

manufactory 

prejudice 

delegate 

gratis 

marriageable 

preliminary 

demur 

group 

medicinal 

premises 

demurrage 

handkerchief 

mileage 

premium 

depreciate 

harass 

millinery 

privilege 

disappear 

height 

minute 

proceed 

disappoint 

hosiery 

miscellaneous 

procedure 

discipline 

hundredth 

monetary 

professor 

dissolve 

illegal 

mortgage 

propeller 

divisible 

illegible 

mortgagee 

proper 

duplicate 

imagine 

mortgagor 

purchase 

economy 

immediate 

naturally 

purpose 

efficient 

imminent 

necessary 

pursue 

eft'eetual 

infallible 

necessity 

pursuit 

eligible 

instal 

negotiate 

really 

emanate 

invalid 

negotiable 

realty 

embezzle 

intercede 

nuisance 

rebate 

endeavor 

inveigle 

obstacle 

rebut 

engineer 

island 

occurrence 

rebuttal 

enough 

janitor 

offence 

recede 

envelop 

journal 

offensive 

recommend 

envelope 

judicial 

opportunity 

recruit 

epidemic 

label 

option 

remittance 

remuneration 

speech 

tariff 

vegetable 

requisite 

speak 

technical 

vehicle 

rescind 

stationary 

technique 

verbatim 

residue 

stationery 

tenancy 

vicinity 

respectable 

statistician 

tenant 

virtually 

responsible 

stencil 

territory 

volatile 

restaurant 

strategic 

testimony 

voucher 

salary 

substantial 

tonnage 

waiver 

schedule 

succeed 

traffic 

waver 

scheme 

sugar 

trafficking 

way-bill 

sentence 

supersede 

transferable 

weather 

separate 

superior 

transient 

weigh 

shoulder 

supervisor 

ultimate 

weight 

shrinkage 

supplement 

unanimous 

welfare 

solicit 

surety 

until 

whether 

specialize 

syllable 

utilities 

wholly 

specialty- 

tacit 

vacancy 

yield 

specification 

tactics 

valid 

zero 

specimen 

tangible 

valuable 

zeros 

7.  Spelling  out  numerals. — 1.     Spell  out  approximate 
numbers ;  do  not  write  them  in  numerals. 

1.  We  printed  about  ten  thousand  catalogues. 

2.  He  employs  an  office  force  of  nine  or  ten  men. 

3.  The  attendance  was  estimated  at  four  hundred. 

2.  Spell  out  the  time  of  day  when  you  mention  it  in  your 
text. 

1.  Mr.   Bruce  made   an   appointment   for   four  o'clock. 

2.  We  were  invited  for  seven  o'clock. 

But  in  a  list  of  hours,  as  on  a  time-table  or  a  schedule  of 
any  kind,  use  numerals :    9:30  a.  m.,  2:15  p.  m. 

3.  Spell  out  ages : 

1.  A  man  of  forty. 

2.  He  is  almost   eighty  years  old. 

3.  Children  between  the  ages  of  seven  and  twelve  are  charged 
half  fare. 


160  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

8.  Abbreviations  and  contractions. — A  contraction  is  a 
shortened  form  of  a  word  used  to  save  time  or  space,  and 
is  made  by  omitting  a  letter  or  letters.  An  apostrophe  is 
used  to  indicate  the  omission.     Such  are : 

Ass'n,  association;   piib'n,  publication;    rec'd,  received. 

These  contractions  are  not  followed  by  a  period.  There 
is  no  accepted  list  of  contractions ;  they  are  devised  accord- 
ing to  need. 

An  abbreviation  is  an  authorized  and  invariable  short- 
tening  of  a  much-used  term ;  it  is  followed  by  a  period. 

A  caution  as  to  the  use  of  contractions  and  abbreviations 
is  necessary.  Do  not  use  them  in  the  body  of  your  writing, 
or  when  you  use  the  word  they  stand  for  in  an  untechnical 
sense.  Such  shortened  forms  give  a  ludicrous  if  not  gro- 
tesque effect  when  they  are  out  of  place ;  as,  for  example : 

1.  While  we  were  having  tea  this  P.  M.  the  Col.  came  in  saying 
he  had  been  sent  to  inspect  the  P.  0. 

2.  It  is  a  fact  that  Pres,  Wilson  appointed  Prof.  Reinsch  of 
Wis.  m'n'st'r  to  China. 

1.  The  spelling  out  of  titles. — Spell  out,  when  they  occur 
in  the  text,  all  ecclesiastical,  civil,  professional,  and  mili- 
tary titles  (except  Mr.,  Mrs.,  and  Dr.). 

Admiral  Dewey,  General  Funston,  Colonel  Clayton,  Professor 
Palmer,  Bishop  Anderson,  Eeverend  John  H.  Vincent,  Honorable 
William  Jennings  Bryan. 

For  the  usage  with  regard  to  these  titles  when  used  in 
the  address  of  a  letter  see  Chapter  XII,  A,  2,  3,  and  8. 

2.  Spell  out  Christian  names. 

George,  Charles,  John,  William,  not  Geo.,  Chas.,  Jno.,  Wm. 

3.  Spell  out  the  names  of  the  months,  except  in  lists  of 
dates.  Whenever  the  name  of  a  month  appears  in  your 
text,  spell  it  in  full. 


SPELLING 


161 


1.  I  worked  from  January  1  to  September  14. 

2.  I  was  engaged  March  24. 

4.  Spell  out  Railroad,  Fort,  Mount,  Port,  Point,  Avenue, 
Street,  etc.,  whenever  they  occur  in  your  text. 

1.  I  came  from  Minneapolis  on  the  Northwestern  Eailroad 
(not  R.  R.). 

2.  He  is  stationed  at  present  at  Fort  Sheridan  (not  Ft.  Sheri- 
dan). 

3.  One  of  the  most  brilliant  achievements  of  the  war  took  place 
at  Port  Arthur. 

4.  My  family  is  spending  the  summer  at  Mount  Desert. 

5.  Abbreviate  names  of  states,  territories,  and  possessions 
of  the  United  States  following  the  names  of  towns,  as  fol- 
lows: 


Alabama,  Ala. 

Alaska. 

Arizona,  Ariz. 

Arkansas,  Ark. 

California,  Cal. 

Colorado,  Colo. 

Connecticut,  Conn. 

District  of  Columbia,  D.  C. 

Delaware,  Del. 

Florida,  Fla. 

Georgia,  Ga. 

Idaho. 

Illinois,  111. 

Indiana,  Ind. 

Iowa. 

Kansas,  Kan. 

Kentucky,  Ky. 

Louisiana,  La. 

Maine. 

Massachusetts,  Mass. 

Maryland,  Md. 

Michigan,  Mich. 

Minnesota,  Minn. 

Mississippi,  Miss. 


Missouri,  Mo. 

Montana,  Mont. 

North  Carolina,  N.  C. 

North  Dakota,  N.  D. 

Nebraska,  Neb. 

Nevada,  Nev. 

New  Hampshire,  N.  H. 

New  Jersey,  N.  J. 

New  Mexico,  N.  M. 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

Ohio. 

Oklahoma,  Okla. 

Oregon,  Ore. 

Pennsylvania,  Pa. 

Philippine  Islands,  P.  I. 

Porto  Rico,  P.  R. 

Rhode  Island,  R.  I. 

South  Carolina,  S.  C. 

South  Dakota,  S.  D. 

Tennessee,  Tenn. 

Texas,  Tex. 

Territory  of  Hawaii,  T.  H. 

Utah. 


162 


ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


Virginia,  Va. 
Vermont,  Vt. 
Washington,  Wash. 


Wisconsin,  Wis. 
West  Virginia,  W.  Va. 
Wyoming,  Wyo. 


6.  Established  abbreviations. — ^You  will  find  in  your  dic- 
tionary a  complete  list  of  accepted  abbreviations.  For  con- 
venience of  reference  those  most  commonly  needed  are  given 
here. 


@    at 

acct.  account 

agt.  agent 

A.  M.  forenoon  or 
a.  m.  forenoon 
amt.  amount 
ans.  answer 

app.  appendix 

asst.  assistant 

atty.  attorney 

av.  average 

avoir,  avoirdupois 

bal.  balance 

bbl.  barrel 

B /E.  bill  of  exchange 

B/L.  bill  of  lading 

B/S.  bill  of  sale 

bot.  bought 

B.  P.  bills  payable 

B.  R.  bills  receivable 
Bro.  brother 

Bros,  brothers 
cm.  centimeter 
Co.  company 

C.  O.  D.  cash  on  delivery 
c.  p.  candle-power 

cu.  cubic 

do.  ditto 

dr.  debtor 

doz.  dozen 

e.  e.  errors  excepted 


e.  g.  for  example 
et  al.  and  others 
etc.  and  so  forth 
F.  Fahrenheit 
fol.  folio 

ft.  foot,  feet 

f.  o.  b.  freight  on  board 
gal.  gallon,  gallons 

h.  p.  horse-power 

hr.  hour 

imp.  imported 

in.  inches 

jr.  junior 

kg.  kilogram 

ft.  pound 

m.  meter 

memo,  memorandum 

min.  minute 

m.  m.  millimeter 

mo.  month 

mos.  months 

MS.  manuscript 

MSS.  manuscripts 

N.  B.  take  notice 

No.  number 

O.  K.  all  right 

oz.  ounce 

%  per  cent 

pd.  paid 

P.  M.  afternoon  or 


SPELLING 


163 


p.  m.  afternoon 
pp.  pages 
pr.  pair 
pk.  peck 
qy.  query 
sec.  second 
Sec.  secretary 
gr.  senior 
str.  steamer 


s.  s.  steamship 
Supt.  superintendent 
via    by  way  of 
viz.  namely 
vol.  volume 
W.B.  way-bill 
wt.  weight 
yd.  yard 
yr.  year 


9.  The  spelling  of  compound  words. — A  compound  word 
is  made  either  by  joining  two  words  to  make  one,  or  by 
connecting  two  words  with  a  hyphen.  The  tendency  is  to 
do  away  with  the  hyphen  in  all  cases  where  the  two  words 
may  be  said  to  convey  one  idea  or  where  one  of  the  ele- 
ments is  much  more  important. 

1.  Study  this  tendency  in  the  following  words,  noticing 
the  meaning  of  those  that  have  the  hyphen  and  those  that 
have  not : 


schoolroom 

newsboy 

trade-mark 

workshop 

overcharge 

pilot-boat 

headquarters 

forehead 

order-book 

blacksmith 

gaslight 

penholder 

handkerchief 

lamplight 

railroad 

lockout 

hardware 

staircase 

newcomer 

gunpowder 

repair-shop 

outburst 

landowner 

part-owner 

bookkeeper 

network 

proof-reader 

taxpayer 

newspaper 

shirt-waist 

birthday 

overpay 

quit-claim 

bondholder 

overwork 

revenue-officer 

bookbinder 

silverware 

party-wall 

hothouse 

typewriter 

makeshift 

woodwork 

2.  Write  as  one  each  of  the  following  combinations : 

anybody  something  everything  nobody 

anyhow  sometimes  everybody  nothing 

anything  somewhere  everywhere  nowhere 


164  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

And  most  combinations  of  man  and  woman,  such  as — 

brakeman  salesman  seaman  needlewoman 

flagman  seedsman  forewoman  clubwoman 

iceman  postman  washerwoman 

3.  There  is  a  tendency  to  omit  the  hyphen  in  tonight, 
today,  tomorrow,  though  conservative  writers  still  retain  it. 

4.  The  large  group  of  compound  words  formed  by  the 
union  of  a  verb  ending  in  -ing  with  a  noun,  are  spelled  with 
the  hyphen : 

dining-room  sleeping-car         working-man  measuring-tape 

boarding-liouse    printing-office     mowing-machine    etching-needle 

5.  Compounds  of  fellow,  father,  mother,  brother,  sister, 
parent,  and  foster,  are  spelled  with  the  hyphen. 

fellow-man    foster-child    fellow-being    parent-hive    mother-tongue 

6.  Compounds  with  non-  ordinarily  have  the  hyphen,  as 
non-union,  non-interference,  non-partisan.  But  certain 
words  formed  in  this  way  are  so  familiar  and  of  so  long 
standing  that  they  present  but  one  idea,  and  are  spelled 
without  the  h3rphen ;  as,  nonsense,  nondescript,  nonessential, 
nonentity,  nonplus. 

7.  Vice-,  ex-,  -elect,  general,  lieutenant  used  as  parts  of 
titles  are  connected  by  a  hyphen  with  the  other  term  of  the 
title,  as,  Vice-President  Marshall,  ex-President  Taft,  Gov- 
ernor-General Harrison,  Major-General  Funston. 

8.  The  usage  concerning  numerals  in  compounds  is  this : 
a)  Fractions  take  the  hyphen,  but  when  the  meaning  is 

simple  and  general  the  hyphen  is  omitted. 

1.  He  reduced  my  estimate  by  one  half. 

2.  He  offered  me  tioo  thirds  of  my  price. 

h)  "When  they  are  used  before  nouns  as  adjectives  they 
have  the  hyphen : 

one-half  interest,  a  three-fourths  share,  a  two-thirds  length. 


SPELLING 


165 


c)  Half,  quarter,  etc.,  compounded  with  nouns  take  the 
hyphen :  - 

a  half-term,  a  half-mile,  a  quarter-section. 

d)  Such  expressions  as  the  following  are  also  spelled 
with  the  hyphen : 

a  ten-mile  stretch,  a  three-foot  rule,  a  five-yard  dash,  a  three- 
inch  ribbon,  a  twenty-mule  team,  a  six-cylinder  car,  a  forty-horse- 
power engine. 

e)  Spell  with  a  hyphen  the  compound  numerals  such 
as, 

twenty-one,  twenty-two,  thirty-one,  thirty-two. 

To  sum  up — whenever  the  two  words  of  a  compound 
have  been  used  together  so  long  as  to  have  lost  their  sepa- 
rate meaning,  or  have  come  to  stand  as  one  entity ;  or  when- 
ever one  of  the  elements  predominates  strongly,  write  the 
two  as  one  word.  Newly  made  compounds  and  those  in 
which  the  elements  seem  of  equal  importance  should  be 
spelled  with  the  hyphen. 

Exercise  3 
Write  off  this  list  of  words,  supplying  hyphens  or  writing 
as  one  word,  according  to  the  relation  of  the  two  ideas. 

fishing  ground 
night  fall 
night  bell 
sun  set 
sun  worship 
fool  proof 
water  proof 
(a  coat) 
water  proof 
( to  make 
impervious ) 

10.  The  use  of  capitals. — The  study  made  here  does  not 
try  to  give  an  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  use  of  capitals. 


air  brake 

bench  warrant 

cash  book 

audit  office 

bill  head 

card  index 

haggage  car 

bird  cage 

catch  word 

balance  sheet 

birth  day 

fellow  student 

ballot  box 

black  smith 

clerk  ship 

bath  room 

blank  book 

copper  plate 

bed  ridden 

blood  shed 

copy  right 

bed  room 

bond  holder 

drafts  man 

bed  side 

boxing  match 

fellow  citizen 

beef  steak 

boy  hood 

eye  brow 

IQQ  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

But  even  the  indispensable  instances  run  up  to  quite  a  large 
number.    Go  over  them  all  carefully  and  do  the  exercises. 
But  regard  this  section  as  valuable  for  reference  when  your 
need  arises. 
Use  capitals  for — 

1.  The  words  I  and  0. 

2.  The  first  word  of  a  sentence. 

3.  The  first  word  of  every  line  of  poetry. 

4.  Proper  names  and  the  adjectives  formed  from  them; 


North  America,  American  France,  French 

England,  English  Paris,  Parisian 

Many  words  formerly  proper  names  or  derived  from 
proper  names,  have  passed  into  general  terms  and  no  longer 
need  capitals;  as — 

Utopian  pla  tonic  quixotic 

listerine  ohm  ampere 

morocco  macadamize  pasteurize 

5.  The  names  of  the  Supreme  Being  or  Power  and  the 
members  of  the  Christian  Trinity ;  as, 

The  Almighty,  the  First  Cause,  the  Absolute,  etc. 

6.  The  names  of  the  Bible  and  other  sacred  books;  but 
not  in  those  adjectives  derived  from  them;  as, 

Holy  Scriptures,  Holy  Writ,  Word  of  God,  Koran,  Veda,  Talmud ; 
biblical,  scriptural,  talmudic,  vedantic,  etc. 

7.  Titles  of  respect — ecclesiastic,  civil,  and  military,  when 
they  precede  the  name ;  titles  without  the  name  when  used 
in  direct  address;  titles  without  the  name  when  used  of 
present  incumbents ;  abbreviations  of  academic  titles  follow- 
ing the  name ;  as. 

King  George,  ex-President  Taft,  President  Wilson,  Secretary  of 
State  Bryan,  Your  Excellency,  Your  Honor,  the  President,  the 
Mayor;  David  Starr  Jordan,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. ;  Bartholomew  Stone. 
D.D. 


SPELLDCG  167 


8.  Names  of  political  parties,  religioiis  denominatioiis, 
clubs,  brotherhoods,  etc 

Republican,  Conservative,  laberal;  ffi^  Gfanidi,  Gatlialie^ 
Presbyterian;  Union  Lea^e  Club,   AtworUtrd   QuuritieB,   Order   of 

St  Francis. 

9.  Names  of  important  events,  docnments,  treaties,  con- 
ventions, expositions;  as, 

The  French  Revolution,  the  Reformation,  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendenoe,  the  Panama  Tolls  Bill,  the  Peace  Conference,  the  World's 
Pore  Food  Exposition. 

10.  The  names  of  the  days  of  the  week,  holidays,  feast 
days ;  of  the  months,  but  not  of  the  seasons ;  as, 

Saturday,  Wednesday,  tiie  FIraifh  of  July,  Easter,  Whitsmi- 
day;  Jannaiy,  summer,  antimm.  ipring,  winter. 

11.  The  names  of  the  political  divisions  of  the  eonntry,  of 
ge<^raphical  and  physical  features  when  they  are  a  part 
of  the  proper  name,  but  not  otherwise;  as, 

Cook  County,  Northwest  Territory,  Straits  of  Mayllaii,  Bed 
River,  Atlantic  Ocean,  Baffin  Bay,  YeUowstone  Park,  Yosemite  VmOB. 

12.  The  names  of  streets,  pariss,  aqpsrea,  etc 

Fifth  Avorae,  Oentral  Park,  Boston  Gammon,  Trafalgar  Sqpme, 
Madison  Square  Gardon,  Ashland  Block,  Lyric  Tlieater. 

13.  Bast,  West,  North,  South,  when  they  desagnate  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  but  not  when  they  merely  name  the 
cardinal  points. 

14.  The  important  words — nouns,  pronouns,  Teriis,  adjec- 
tives, adverbs,  first  and  last  words — ^in  the  titles  of  Ixxdcs, 
plays,  poems,  and  other  treatises.  When  the  author  uses 
the  initial  article — ci>  a*,  the — as  a  part  of  the  title,  this 
should  always  be  capitalised. 

Manly  and  Powdlls  "A  Manual  for  WritMs";  Macanlay'b  His- 
tory of  England;  Teu^ysim's  •^dyUs  of  tiie  King*;  Sbaw^  "How  She 
Lied  to  Hex  Husband";  Browning's  "The  Ring  and  tl«  Book." 


168  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

15.  The  chief  words  in  an  order,  bill,  or  invoice  j  as, 

Please  send  me  the  following: 

10  bu.  Potatoes 

25  lbs.  Flour 

10  boxes  Sunshine  Wafers 

16.  The  first  word  of  a  formally  cited  speech  or  quota- 
tion: 

1.  Mr.  Yeats   said,   "All  young  poets   should   keep  simple." 

2.  Shakespeare's   Jacques   says,   "All   the   world's   a    stage." 

But  if  the  quotation  is  run  informally  into  the  text  do 
not  use  the  capital — 

The  old  adage  that  "haste  makes  waste"  is  again  proven   true. 

17.  The  first  word  after  a  colon  when  introducing  a  com- 
plete passage;  as, 

I  should  advise  you  to  this  effect:  Put  the  matter  into  the 
hands  of  a  local  attorney,  etc.,  etc. 

18.  The  names  of  governmental  departments,  legislative, 
administrative,  and  judicial  bodies,  when  specifically 
applied;  as. 

Congress,  House  of  Representatives,  the  Senate,  House  of  Com- 
mons; Board  of  Aldermen,  Department  of  Public  Roads,  War  Depart- 
ment, Supreme  Court. 

Exercise  4 
Supply  the  capitals  needed  in  the  following  passages: 

1.  our  salesman,  mr.  bruee,  will  be  in  brockton  monday  and 
tuesday,  September  14-15.  he  will  have  with  him  a  complete  line 
of  novelties  from  paris,  vienna,  and  berlin. 

2.  "neither  a  borrower  nor  a  lender  be,  for  loan  oft  loses  both 
itself  and   friend." — Shakespeare. 

3.  last  year  i  had  no  vacation  but  the  legal  holidays,  labor  day 
and  thanksgiving  i  spent  at  home  in  newton  center,  between  Christ- 
mas and  new  year's  i  went  south,  on  Washington's  birthday  i  dined 
at  the  athletic  club,     on  decoration  day  i  went  with  col.  clayton  to 


SPELLING  169 


the  bound  brook  golf  club,    on  the  fourth  of  July  i  went  for  a  sail 
in  dr.  hudson's  little  "batwing." 

4.  he  will  leave  in  October  for  the  east,  and  will  continue  his 
studies  in  harvard  university  in  the  school  of  business  and  com- 
merce, he  has  the  degree  of  b.  a.  from  Columbia  university  where 
he  specialized  in  psychology. 

5.  last  december  immediately  before  Christmas  mr.  morton  was 
in  Washington  d.  c.  he  stayed  at  the  arlington  where  he  met  many 
senators  and  members,  among  them  honorable  william  gordon  holt 
member  of  congress  from  the  ninth  district,  who  said  to  mr.  mor- 
ton: the  president  would  veto  the  panama  canal  tolls  bill  even  if 
it  were  passed  both  by  the  house  and  by  the  senate. 

6.  at  a  reception  given  at  the  residence  of  mr.  chandler,  member 
of  the  house  from  nevada,  mr.  morton  met  the  secretary  of  the 
interior,  the  head  of  the  bureau  of  domestic  and  foreign  commerce, 
the  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs,  mr  tumulty,  private  secretary 
to  the  president,  james  parker  hall,  dean  of  the  law  school  of  the 
university  of  Chicago,  professor  cherington,  author  of  "advertising  as 
a  business  force,"  norman  hapgood,  editor  of  "harper's  weekly,"  and 
several  members  of  forbes  robertson's  company  playing  at  the  lyric 
theater  in  "the  passing  the  third  floor  back." 

7.  messrs  jevne  and  co  Chicago  ill 
please  send  me  at  once  the  following  order : 

25  lbs.  mocha  and  Java  coffee 
150  lbs  pillsbury's  best  flour 
3  cases  van  camp 's  plain  pork  and  beans 
2  cases  old  mission  California  olives 

11.  Syllables,  and  the  dividing  of  words  into  syllables. 
— When  you  must  divide  a  word,  divide  it  between  syl- 
lables. Roughly  speaking,  every  vowel,  or  every  vowel 
combination  pronounced  as  one,  indicates  a  syllable  (this 
does  not  count  silent  final  e).  In  every  English  word  of 
more  than  one  syllable,  one  of  the  syllables  is  accented. 
Study  the  following  directions: 

dei-i-nite,  nois-i-ly,  syllable,  di-vi-sion,  ex-pen-sive,  ap-pel-lant. 

1.  When  a  word  is  to  be  divided  at  the  end  of  a  line  of 
writing  or  typewriting,  divide  it  only  between  syllables. 


170  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

2.  Arrange  to  bring  the  division  immediately  after  the 
accented  syllable,  if  possible ;  as,  def-inite,  syl-laMe,  expen- 
sive, etc. 

3.  When  a  word  is  one  syllable  or  pronounced  as  one, 
don't  divide  it  at  all.  No  matter  how  long  it  may  be — 
accommodate  it  to  your  space  in  some  other  way. 

4.  Never  end  a  line  with  dd,  tt,  II ;  divide  between  double 
consonants ;  as,  col-lateral,  submission.  The  tendency  is  to 
divide  between  any  two  consonants,  regardless  of  the  logical 
syllabification  of  the  word ;  as,  foun-dation,  impor-tant,  chil- 
dren, plain-tiff.  Naturally,  this  cannot  be  done  if  the  two 
consonants  represent  one  sound,  fa-ther,  moth-er,  pitch-er. 

5.  Do  not  divide  a  word  of  two  syllables  if  it  can  be 
avoided,  and  never  divide  such  a  word  when  it  leaves  a  syl- 
lable of  one  letter  to  be  carried  over  to  the  next  line ;  thus 
you  might  divide  nois-ily,  but  not  nois-y. 

6.  It  is  particularly  important  for  a  typist  to  learn  the 
rules  of  division.  The  proper -use  of  them  saves  him  the 
ragged  right  margin  that  often  disfigures  type-written 
matter. 


CHAPTER  XI 
PUNCTUATION 

The  marks  of  punctuation  are  not  put  on  a  page  among 
your  words  for  decoration,  nor  are  they  there  for  the  sake 
of  variety.  To  be  sure,  they  are  not  necessary  for  the  under- 
standing of  any  piece  of  writing.  They  are  a  somewhat 
modern  invention  and  the  world  read  a  great  deal  before 
they  came  into  existence.  Some  of  the  passages  that  will 
be  given  you  to  punctuate  will  demonstrate  that  you  can 
read  and  understand  an  unpunctuated  passage.  But  it 
will  take  you  much  longer,  and  in  many  cases  there  will 
remain  groups  of  words  whose  meaning  and  relation  you 
can  not  be  sure  you  have  caught. 

The  marks  of  punctuation  are  valuable  aids  to  clear- 
ness and  eifectiveness.  As  such  they  are  not  external 
mechanical  devices,  but  living  expressions  of  thought.  They 
take  the  place  in  written  speech  of  the  gesture,  the  pause, 
the  intonation,  the  inflection,  with  which  we  supplement  our 
meaning  in  vocal  speech. 

Sometimes,  like  the  inflection,  they  convey  a  delicate  shade 
of  meaning,  sometimes  they  differentiate  a  meaning  as  wide 
apart  as  the  poles.  I  can  pronounce  the  words,  ''Roose- 
velt defeated"  with  an  inflection  that  seems  to  put  him 
forever  out  of  the  running,  or  with  an  inflection  that  means 
that  his  triumph  is  inevitable,  and  that  the  suggestion  of 
defeat  is  to  be  treated  only  with  surprised  contempt. 

The  presence  or  absence  of  a  comma  may  mean  quite  as 
much.  There  is  the  classic  story  of  the  dealer  in  the  East 
whose  buyer  in  California  had  telegraphed  him,  quoting  the 

171 


172  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

price  of  grapes  and  asking  if  he  should  buy.  The  dealer 
telegraphed  back,  "No,  price  too  high."  The  telegraph 
office  does  not  punctuate  and  so  the  message  reached  the 
buyer  without  a  comma  after  No,  with  the  result  of  a  loss  of 
many  thousand  dollars  to  the  author  of  the  message. 

The  tendency  at  present  is  to  reduce  the  amount  and 
variety  of  punctuation  and  to  hold  rather  Kghtly  to  the 
rules  for  placing  the  marks.  This  is  partly  due  to  our  hav- 
ing learned  to  write  more  clearly  and  correctly.  We  need 
fewer  words  when  we  have  sought  and  found  the  right  word. 
We  do  not  need  to  keep  adding  explanatory  phrases  and 
clauses  when  we  master  the  art  of  stating  our  meaning 
directly  and  simply. 

You  will  find  marks  of  punctuation  in  larger  numbers 
and  greater  variety  in  literary  and  philosophical  writing 
than  in  business  composition.  This  is  because  literature 
and  philosophy  must  make  more  modifications  and  reser- 
vations and  exceptions  than  business. 

This  is  the  only  difference  between  literary  punctuation 
and  business  punctuation:  Business  writing  is,  or  should 
be,  direct  and  simple  in  style,  making  few  exceptions  and 
qualifications,  and  recording  practically  no  after-thoughts. 
It  is  intent  on  stating  facts,  and  is  not  aiming  at  emotional 
or  artistic  effects.  It  calls  for  short,  clear,  emphatic  state- 
ments. 

The  business  man  will  need  many  periods,  for  he  loves 
short,  simple  sentences.  He  will  need  many  commas,  for 
he  gives  quick,  brief,  numerous  details.  He  will  need  colons 
— more  than  the  literary  man — because  he  makes  frequent 
summaries,  and  dotes  upon  lists  of  articles  and  prices.  If 
he  is  a  customer,  he  will  need  many  interrogation  marks. 
He  will  need,  or  could  profitably  use,  a  few  semicolons. 
Add  to  these  a  few  apostrophes,  an  occasional  pair  of  quota- 
tion marks,  and  from  time  to  time  a  dash — and  your  busi- 


Punctuation?  17^ 


ness  writer  is  ready  to  punctuate.    There  should  be  very  lit . 
tie  difficulty  in  learning  the  main  uses  of  each  of  these. 

It  is  not  shirking  the  issue  or  merely  evading  a  difficulty 
to  advise  the  business  student  so  to  construct  his  sentences, 
and  so  to  choose  his  words  as  to  be  independent  of  elab- 
orate punctuation. 

1.  The  period. — ^This  mark  of  punctuation  is  used — 

1.  To  mark  the  close  of  a  complete  declarative  sentence. 
And  here  we  must  repeat  the  warning  already  given  several 
times  against  mistaking  for  a  sentence  a  collection  of  words, 
however  long  and  however  important,  which  still  does  not 
make  a  complete  statement.    Notice  this  : 

Our  knife  has  a  beautiful  German  silver  handle.  Blade  of  razor 
steel  which  insures  a  good  lasting  cutting  edge.  Guaranteed  first- 
class  in  every  particular.  If  not  found  so  money  promptly  refunded. 
Also  furnished  with  identification  features  making  it  one  of  fhe 
most  fetching  little  advertisers  ever  devised. 

You  will  discover  that  only  one  of  these  groups — the 
first  one — is  a  sentence.  Yet  the  other  four  are  punctuated 
just  as  if  they,  too,  were  sentences.  It  is  an  easy  matter 
to  turn  them  into  sentences — it  is  a  mere  matter  of  giving 
them  a  subject  or  a  verb  or  both. 

It  has  a  blade  of  razor  steel  which  insures  a  good  lasting  cutting 
edge.  It  is  guaranteed  first-class  in  every  particular.  If  it  is  not 
found  so,  the  money  is  cheerfully  refunded.  We  also  furnish  it 
with  identification  features,  making  it  one  of  the  most  fetching 
little  advertisers  ever  devised. 

2.  After  initials,  and  generally  after  abbreviations,  but 
not  after  mere  contractions:  T.  P.  O'Connor,  Mr.,  Esq., 
M.  D.,  f.  0.  h.,  etc. 

3.  After  Arabic  numerals  and  letters  designating  the 
items  of  a  series,  as  for  example  the  numerals  marking  the 
sections  and  sub-sections  in  these  chapters. 

4.  To  separate  whole  numbers  from  the  decimals  that 


1^4:  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

accompany  them,  especially  dollars  from  cents.  A  period 
always  precedes  a  decimal  whether  or  not  there  be  a  whole 
number:  2.016,  $3.75,  .80,  .02,  .725. 

Exercise  1 

Supply  periods  and  capitals  in  the  following  passages. 
Rearrange  the  matter  when  it  is  necessary  in  order  to 
punctuate  it  properly. 

1.  a  business  letter  is  a  little  talk  on  paper 

2.  if  you  have  any  difficulty  consult  mr  w  conger,  our  sales- 
manager 

3.  the  letter  was  obviously  "a  circular"  printed  by  the  thousand, 
signature  included,  an  insult  under  the  circumstances  to  the  inquirer 

4.  the  north  western  limited  leaves  the  polk  st  station  for  st 
Paul  at  12  45  p  m 

5.  modern  advertising  has  succeeded  in  doing  what  it  set  out 
to  do  it  has  created  interest  where  none  existed  before 

Correct  the  following: 

6.  the  book  cannot  be  praised  to  highly.  A  book  for  the  school, 
the  home  for  the  teacher  the  business  man,  for  every  body 

7.  employers  will  not  stand  preaching,  they  don't  mind  being 
talked  to,  but  they  hate  being  talked  at 

8.  even  after  the  canal  opens  many  cargoes  will  be  transshipped 
in  the  Gulf  which  will  be  to  avoid  the  heavy  tolls 

2.  The  interrogation  mark. — This  is  used — 

1.  At  the  end  of  a  sentence  that  asks  a  direct  question, 

whether  the  question  asks  for  actual  information  or  is  used 

for  effect : 

1.  Who  invented  the  steam  engine? 

2.  When  will  this  note  mature? 

-    3.  When  may  we  expect  a  settlement? 

4.  May  we  hear  from  you  promptly? 

5.  Will  you  kindly  repeat  your  inquiry? 

6.  What  does  he  take  me  for? 

7.  What  business  man  in  our  day  has  not  heard  of  the  experi- 
ments in  efficiency? 


PUNCTUATION  175 


2.  After  each  of  the  questions  in  a  series  so  closely  related 
as  to  constitute  one  question ;  these,  except  the  first  inquiry, 
may  be  written  without  capitals : 

1.  What  is  the  meaning  of  icattf  of  ohmf  of  ampere?  of  voltf 

2.  What  are  the  facts  of  his  visit?  who  saw  him  arrive?  who 
spoke  with  him?    who  saw  him  leave? 

3.  Sometimes  to  question  the  accuracy,  the  propriety, 
or  even  the  verity  of  some  term  or  statement  an  interroga- 


tion  is  thrown  in,  in  parentheses: 


1.  He  calls  himself  an  actuary    (?)    of  the  New  York  Life. 

2.  He  advertises  the  only  (?)  successful  vacuum  sweeper  on 
the  market. 

4.  The  interrogation  mark  is  not  used  when  the  ques- 
tion is  asked  in  the  indirect  form. 

1.  He  inquired  whether  or  not  you  had  given  the  order. 

2.  He  inquired  if  the  early  train  for  the  east  shore  had  been 
taken  off. 

3.  The  exclamation  mark. — This  mark  of  punctuation  is 
always  used — 

1.  At  the  end  of  a  sentence  that  expresses  excitement  or 
any  strong  emotion;  or  after  a  word  or  group  of  words 
that  express  such  feeling : 

1.  His  will  is  superhuman! 

2.  What  a  wasted  life! 

3.  Horrors!  he  has  fallen  from  the  fire-escape! 

2.  Sometimes  in  the  same  way  as  the  interrogation  mark 
— as  a  note  of  doubt  or  criticism : 

1.  The  writer  emphasizes  the  just  ( ! )  demands  of  the  employers. 

2.  He  pointed  out  to  his  employers  his  own  benevolent  ( 1 )  pro- 
visions. 


]76  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

Exercise  2 

Find  or  in\ent  sentences  showing  all  the  specified  uses 
of  the  interrogation  and  exclamation  marks. 

4.  The  semicolon. — This  punctuation  mark  is  a  sort  of 
less  final  period;  it  separates  statements  not  so  completely 
distinct  as  those  separated  by  periods,  and  not  so  closely 
associated  as  those  separated  by  commas. 

1.  It  is  used  in  a  series  of  details  such  as  the  following 
to  separate  the  members  of  the  series: 

1.  Jobbers  used  to  say:  "Buy  at  eighty  cents,  sell  at  one 
twenty-five;  bviy  at  one  twentj^  sell  at  one  fifty;  buy  at  one  sixty, 
sell  at  two," 

2.  A  form-letter  is  not  an  accident;  it  is  a  permanent  factor  of 
modern  business;  it  should  be  composed  with  great  care;  it  should 
reflect    complete   knowledge   of   the   business. 

3.  Signs  of  prosperity  can  be  seen  on  every  hand ;  crops  are  large ; 
every  kind  of  manufacturer  is  pushed  with  orders;  mercantile  busi- 
ness is  flourishing;  while  the  railroads  are  blockaded  with  freight 
waiting  to  be  moved. 

2.  As  a  rule,  separate  by  semicolons  those  parts  of  a  sen- 
tence that  are  already  punctuated  by  commas: 

1.  He  went  back,  after  considerable  delay,  to  look  for  the 
thermos  bottle;  but  though  he  looked  faithfully,  he  could  not  find  it. 

2.  To  be  a  good  business  correspondent,  a  man  should  be  edu- 
cated in  the  school  of  experience;  he  should  have  that  very  desirable, 
but  very  rare  quality — tact;  he  should  be  a  keen  observer,  keeping 
his  eyes  always  open;  he  should  be  kind-hearted,  without  being 
gullible;  he  should,  without  being  conceited,  possess  considerable 
confidence  in  himself;  he  should  have  imagination;  he  should,  above 
all,  have  a  tremendous  enthusiasm  for  his  business. 

5.  The  colon. — This  mark  of  punctuation  is  used — 

1.  Before  a  formal  list  of  items.  Professor  Lewis  in  his 
*' Business  English"  says:  ''In  strict  logic  the  colon  is  to 
the  sentence  it  is  used  in,  what  the  mark  of  equality  is  in 
mathematics." 


PUNCTUATION  ^77 


The  following  sentences  illustrate  this  use  of  the  colon : 

1.  The  skeleton  serves  these  purposes:  forms  a  strong  and  rigid 
frame-work  for  the  body;  protects  the  vital  organs  from  injury; 
supports  and  carries  the  weak  parts;  gives  attachment  to  the 
muscles;    forms  joints,  so  that  movements  are  possible. 

2.  In  the  modem  business  world  the  letter  has  these  functions: 
it  is  the  advertiser  making  known  the  goods;  it  is  the  salesman, 
persuading  the  customer  to  buy;  it  is  the  collector,  courteous  but 
insistent;  it  is  the  adjuster  of  claims,  atfentive  and  prompt;  it 
is  the  complete  and  convenient  record  of  the  transaction. 

3.  Business  has  three  important  aspects: 

Production 

IManufacture 

Distribution 

An  informal  list  or  a  very  brief  list,  does  not  usually 
have  the  colon.  There  are,  indeed,  three  grades  of  formal- 
ity in  a  list  or  summary,  indicated  by  the  punctuation  mark 
that  precedes  it:  Formal — the  colon;  less  formal^the 
dash ;  least  formal — the  comma. 

2.  Before  a  formal  and  impressive  statement,  an  extract, 
or  a  long  quotation  not  introduced  by  that: 

1.  Continuing,  the  speaker  said:  "I  next  present  a  series  of 
resolutions  adopted  at  a  mass  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Forest  Hill," 

2.  Belloc  says:  "Wealth  is  matter  which  has  been  consciously 
and  intelligently  transformed  from  a  condition  in  which  it  is  less, 
to  a  condition  in  which   it  is  more  serviceable  to  a  human  need." 

3.  After  thus,  as  follows,  the  following: 

1.  I  shall  advise  you  to  proceed  thus:  Give  him  an  extension 
of  time  of  one  month;  if  he  does  not  settle  then,  place  the  matter 
in  the  hands  of  an  attorney. 

2.  The  officers  of  the  Association  are  the  following:  James  P. 
Hall,  President;  Marvin  H.  Bell,  Secretary;  Hubert  Barton,  Treas- 
urer. 

The  more  informal  expressions — namely,  as,  that  is,  for 
example,  for  instance,  have  a  semicolon  before  them  and  a 


178  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

comma  after  them.     (You  may  occasionally  find  a  colon 
with  these,  too,  since  usage  varies.) 

4.  To  separate  minutes  from  hours  when  the  time  is 
given  in  numerals.  (The  period  is  also  used  for  the  same 
purpose. ) 

2:15,  3:45. 

5.  After  the  salutation  at  the  beginning  of  a  formal  let- 
ter, and  after  the  salutation  of  a  speaker  to  the  chairman 
and  audience : 

My  dear  Mr.  Olson: 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies,  and  Gentlemen: 

Exercise  3 

Supply  capitals,  periods,  interrogation  and  exclamation 
marks,  colons,  and  semicolons  in  the  following: 

1.  the  watchword  cf  the  advertising  campaign  was  a  suit 
intended  to  fit  you  should  be  cut  to  your  measurements  and  fitted 
to  you  in  the  making 

2.  success  is  largely  a  matter  of  these  qualities  aptitude,  train- 
ing, experience,  work 

3.  the  following  new  members  of  the  association  were  elected 
1  w  ellis  secretary  of  the  holt  m'f'g  company,  g  m  meigs  publicity 
manager  of  klein  gross  and  co,  henry  i  nelson  advertising  manager 
royal  blue  rug  co 

4.  he  opened  with  the  statement  they  have  had  thrust  upon 
them  an  industrial  conflict  of  an  unnecessary  and  wholly  inexcus- 
able character 

5.  demand  is  the  product  of  the  myriad  forces  of  civilization 
supply  always  follows  demand  could  any  thing  be  more  obvious 
than  that  what  obstinacy  to  refuse  to  admit  it 

6.  it  was  henry  clay  who  said  i  would  rather  be  right  than 
president 

7.  the  following  topics  are  offered  for  discussion  getting  up  a 
catalogue  how  many  letters  should  there  be  in  a  follow-up  series 
planning  a  campaign  the  use  of  testimonial  letters  successful  col- 
lection methods  etc 

8.  what  a  pathetic  waste  of  energy  of  time  and  of  money 


PUNCTUATION  179 


9.  what  is  more  discouraging  than  a  lack  of  energy  in  a  young 
business  man 

10.  why  are  you  applying  for  this  position  have  you  capacity 
have  you  training  have  you  experience 

11.  would  you  like  us  to  give  you  a  due  bill  to  refund  the  money 
or  to  send  you  a  duplicate  of  your  purchase 

12.  he  said  to  him,  olson,  how  long  should  an  advertisement  be 
that  depends,  said  olson,  on  four  things  the  importance  of  the  subject 
the  class  of  readers  addressed  the  intrinsic  interest  of  the  subject 
the  skill  with  which  it  is  handled 

6.  The  comma. — This  is  the  most  used  and  useful  of  all 
the  marks  of  punctuation.  On  a  single  page,  chosen  at  ran- 
dom, from  '^ System,"  the  well-known  business  magazine, 
there  are  fifty-eight  marks  of  punctuation:  one  interroga- 
tion mark,  two  semicolons,  twenty-three  periods,  and  thirty- 
two  commas.  On  a  single  page  of  the  same  size,  of  **The 
Atlantic  Monthly,"  in  a  literary  essay,  there  are  sev- 
enty-six marks  of  punctuation :  one  exclamation,  one  colon, 
three  dashes,  three  quotations,  nine  semicolons,  fifteen 
periods,  and  forty-four  commas — in  both  cases  the  commas 
forming  more  than  half  the  marks. 

But  you  should  not  scatter  commas  among  your  words 
as  you  sprinkle  paprika  on  your  baked  potato — chiefly 
because  they  look  nice.  You  should  use  them  for  the 
double  purpose  of  saving  your  reader's  time,  and  of  mak- 
ing your  meaning  unmistakable. 

You  should  use  as  few  commas  as  possible;  but  you 
should  use  as  many  as  are  necessary. 

The  list  of  eleven  uses  of  the  comma  given  below  does 
not  exhaust  the  subject.  It  does,  however,  include  the 
important  uses;  and  the  copious  practical  examples  are 
given  with  the  hope  of  developing  in  the  student  the  comma 
sense.  You  can  not,  as  you  write,  pause  to  call  up  the 
rule  for  the  placing  of  a  comma,  but  after  much  practice 
in  the  deliberate  placing  of  them,  you  pass  into  the  state  of 


180  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

habitual  reaction,  and  commas  take  their  place  on  your  page 
as  naturally  and  unpremeditatedly  as  do  the  spaces  between 
the  words. 

We  may  say  without  intending  to  make  a  law  or  a  rule : 
The  period  and  the  semicolon  are  marks  of  separation; 
the  colon  and  the  dash  are  marks  of  union  or  addition; 
the  comma  is  a  mark  of  distinction.  It  distinguishes  rather 
than  joins  or  separates.  It  holds  words  and  ideas  just  far 
enough  apart  for  us  to  realize  them,  while  still  allowing 
us  to  see  them  all  at  once.  The  following  are  eleven  impor- 
tant uses  of  the  comma : 

1.  Between  the  elements  of  a  sentence  when  the  conjunc- 
tions are  omitted. 

1.  It  was  a  long,  dull,  and  exhausting  journey. 

2.  Over  mountains,  through  forests,  across  rivers,  the  long  road 
stretched. 

3.  He  has  endured  the  strain  hour  after  hour,  day  after  day, 
year  after  year. 

4.  Ferguson  came  down  the  gang-plank  followed  by  his  wife, 
the  maid,  the  nurse,  the  baby,  the  twins,  and  the  boys. 

5.  A  firm,  constant,  gentle  discipline  should  prevail  in  every 
office. 

In  such  a  series  the  comma  is  used  even  before  the  and 
that  comes  between  the  last  two  numbers  of  the  series.  This 
prevents  our  supposing  that  the  last  two  are  to  be  taken  as 
one.    Notice  the  following : 

1.  Our  cat  has  three  kittens — a  black,  a  white,  and  a  spotted 
one. 

2.  Our  cat  has  three  kittens — a  black,  a  white,  and  a  black  and 
white. 

Some  combinations  are  not  series,  the  items  of  w^hich  you 
desire  to  keep  apart;  you  want  to  join  them  as  closely  as 
possible.    In  these  you  do  not  use  commas : 

1.  That  beautiful  young  girl  is  the  daughter  of  the  Governor. 

2.  A  distinguished  foreign  artist  is  exhibiting. 

3.  Good   domestic  gingham  sells   for  fifteen   cents. 


PUNCTUATION  181 


2.  To  set  off  explanatory,  intermediate,  and  introductory 
expressions,  and  expressions  out  of  the  natural  order  in  the 
sentence.  These  terms  will  become  plainer  upon  the  study 
of  the  following  sentences : 

a)  Explanatory  phrases: 

1.  Mr.  Bruce,  the  junior  member  of  our  firm,  is  taking  his  vaca- 
tion in  Bermuda. 

2.  From  Flagstaff  you  can  see  the  Arapahoe,  the  summit  of  the 
Great  Divide. 

h)  Intermediate  phrases: 

1.  I  had,  on  the  contrary,  decided  to  employ  him. 

2.  We  can,  of  course,  furnish  you  any  quantity  you  desire. 

3.  The  arbitrators  gave  harsh,  though  perfectly  logical,  judgment. 

4.  He  was  wearing  an  elegant,  though  inexpensive,  suit. 

c)  Introductory  phrases: 

1.  Mr.  Bruce  being  occupied,  I  came  away  w^ithout  seeing  him. 

2.  Permission  being  given,  he  withdrew  from  the  class. 

3.  Having  lived  by  the  sicord,  they  are  perishing  by  the  sword. 

d)  Phrases  out  of  their  natural  order: 

1.  The  waves  are  rolling  in,  white  with  foam. 

2.  In  reply  to  your  letter  of  April  J/,  we  desire  to  say,  etc. 

3.  With  the  best  intentions  in  the  world,  he  wrote  a  very  foolish 
letter. 

Exercise  4 

Supply  periods,  capitals,  semicolons,  and  commas  in  the 
following  sentences: 

1.  above  us  there  spread  a  blue  cloud-flecked  sky  below  us  lay 
the  wide  level  wave-dashed  sand  the  gulls  now  returned  from  the 
north  were  circling  and  crying  in  the  air  shouting  and  laughing  the 
bathers  were  playing  in  the  waves  or  lying  on  the  warm  sand  far  off 
on  the  horizon  a  trail  of  smoke  marked  the  course  of  a  steamer  lying 
on  the  beach  in  blissful  idleness  you  fill  your  soul  with  peace  and  rest. 


]^32  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

2.  the  Japanese  are  an  ambitious  alert  and  intelligent  people 
primary  education  is  becoming  general  among  them  they  are  strong 
clean  and  healthy  in  short  they  could  not  be  denied  admission 
to  our  country  on  the  grounds  that  might  keep  out  half  the  immi- 
grants that  are  now  coming  from  southeastern  europe 

3.  will  you  kindly  let  us  know  by  return  mail  just  when  you 
expect  to  ship  our  order  no  7348  davenport  to  be  sent  direct  to  our 
customer  lawrence  stork  Washington  iowa  our  customer  wishes  to  get 
this  davenport  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  and  we  promised  him 
to  hasten  matters  as  much  as  possible 

4.  in  answer  to  your  question  if  it  is  true  that  red  gum  when 
made  into  furniture  mars  very  easily  we  will  say  not  only  is 
this  not  true  but  on  the  other  hand  furniture  manufactured  of 
this  wood  when  finished  natural  shows  finger  prints  less  than  any 
other  wood  and  is  therefore  very  easy  to  keep  clean  we  enclose 
a  letter  from  the  superintendent  of  the  woodmen  of  the  world 
building  omaha  nebraska  which  bears  out  this  statement  fully 
inasmuch  as  door  and  interior  trim  in  a  public  building  are  sub- 
jected to  much  harder  usage  than  furniture 

3.  To  set  off  a  non-restrictive,  but  not  a  restrictive,  clause. 
When  we  say  * '  set  off, ' '  we  mean :  Put  a  comma  after  the 
clause  if  it  stands  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence;  put  a 
comma  both  before  and  after  it,  if  it  comes  in  the  midst  of 
a  sentence. 

A  restrictive  clause  defines,  narrows,  pins  down,  the  word 
that  it  modifies ;  it  fixes  the  application  of  the  word  it  mod- 
ifies so  closely  that  the  two  can  not  be  separated.  You  can 
not  take  out  a  restrictive  clause  and  still  say  what  you 
desire  to  say;  often  the  meaning  is  destroyed  or  absurdly 
perverted  by  removing  this  clause. 

A  non-restrictive  clause  adds  something  to  the  word  it 
modifies ;  it  does  not  narrow ;  it  expands.  You  can  drop  it 
out  and  still  make  complete  sense. 

The  logic  of  this  is,  that  you  may  set  off  the  non-restric- 
tive clause  by  commas.    You  must  not  separate  the  restric- 


PUNCTUATION 


183 


tive  clause  from  the  word  it  modifies.    Of  course  for  other 
reasons  there  may  be  a  comma  after  the  restrictive  clause. 
Mr.  Brown  who  was  late,  had  to  stand  up. 

If  you  leave  the  clause  without  the  comma  before  who, 
you  make  it  a  restrictive  clause,  and  this  says,  in  effect,  that 
there  is  more  than  one  Mr.  Brown  and  that,  therefore,  you 
must  limit,  or  narrow  the  term  Mr.  Brown. 

Mr.  Brown,  who  was  late,  had  to  stand  up. 

In  this  form — with  the  comma  before  who — it  is  a  non- 
restrictive  clause — it  adds  something  to  Mr.  Brown — namely 
lateness. 

My  father  who  is  an  old  man,  disapproves  of  modern  business 
methods. 

The  omission  of  the  comma  here  produces  an  absurdity 
for  it  says,  in  effect,  "I  have  several  fathers,  and  the  one 
who  is  old  disapproves  of  modern  business  methods";  the 
implication  being  that  the  others  do  not.  In  this  case  you 
are  obliged  to  use  the  comma  before  who. 

The  clauses  in  the  following  sentences  are  restrictive 
clauses  and  are  properly  punctuated.  Study  them  care- 
fully. 

1.  All  orders  that  reach  us  before  Thursday  will  be  filled  immedi- 
ately. 

2.  A  man  who  is  good  at  making  excuses  is  good  at  nothing 
else. 

3.  Injuries  which  are  apparently  trivial  should  receive  prompt 
attention. 

4.  The  course  in  stenography  that  I  am  taking  is  proving  quite 
interesting. 

The  clauses  in  the  following  sentences  are  properly  punc- 
tuated non-restrictive  clauses. 

1.  Your  order,  which  was  late  in  reaching  us,  can  not  be  filled 
this  month. 


134  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

2.  His   injuries,  lohich  were  apparently   trivial,   later   proved    to 
be   serious. 

3.  The  course   in   stenography,   which  is   going   to   he  very   valu- 
able to  me,   is  given  on  Wednesday  evenings. 

Exercise  5 
Supply  the  commas  in  the  following  sentences. 

1.  The  book  that  gives  Avell-arranged  concrete  examples  is  most 
instructive. 

2.  Mr.  Wise's  book  Avhich  gives  many  concrete  examples  is  very 
instructive. 

3.  Professor  Gulick  who  has  lived  many  years  in  Tokyo  wrote 
tliis  valuable  book  on  Japan. 

4.  The  architect  who  designed  this  building  has  submitted  plans 
for  a  business  block  in  Buenos  Ayres. 

5.  Our  architect  who  has  recently  gone  to  Brazil  was  trained  in 
Boston. 

6.  Mr.   Bruce   who  hesitated   for   a  long  while   finally   took   the 
plunge. 

7.  The  man  who  hesitates  is  lost. 

8.  The    woman    who    does    not    believe    in    universal    suffrage    is 
now  rather  exceptional. 

9.  This    woman   who    does   not   believe    in    universal    suffrage    is 
today  a  rather  unusual  person. 

10.  The  doctors  who  diagnosed  his  malady  as  appendicitis  advised 
an  immediate  operation. 

11.  The  doctor  A\ho  diagnosed  his  case  declared  at  once  that  the 
trouble  was  appendicitis. 

4.  The  comma  precedes  a  short  and  informally  used  quo- 
tation : 

1.  Every   member   answered,   "Here." 

2.  His  only  statement  was,  "I  have  nothing  to  say." 

3.  We  can  only  say  hopefully,  "Every  cloud  has  a  silver  lining." 

5.  Insert  a  comma  to  show  that  a  word  easily  supplied 
from  the  connection  is  omitted : 

1.  He  could   eat  no  fat;    she,  no  lean. 


PUNCTUATION  ]  35 


2.  Enclosed  find  cheek  for  $125,  amount  of  my  account  in  full. 

3.  After  dinner  they  went  to  the  concert;  we,  to  the  theater. 

6.  Use  a  comma  after  yes,  no,  well,  now,  then,  however, 
therefore,  moreover,  further  more,  nevertheless,  in  fact,  in 
short,  for  instance,  on  the  other  hand,  the  name  or  title  of 
the  person  used  to  address  him,  when  any  of  these  stand  at 
the  beginning  of  the  sentence  unless  it  is  very  short  and 
clear.  Put  a  comma  both  before  and  after  them  when  they 
are  ''wedged"  into  the  sentence  to  mark  a  break  in  the 
thought.    For  example : 

1.  Yes,  the  order  has  been  attended  to. 

2.  No,  it  is  not  true  that  I  have  resigned. 

3.  In  fact,  I  have  received  a  promotion. 

4.  Now,  my  dear  sir,  I  feel   that  I  have  been  shabbily  treated. 

5.  In  short,  I   should  like  my  money  refunded. 

6.  I  will,  however,  wait  another  week. 

7.  Moreover,  I  think  you  will  admit,  Mr.  Long,  that  we  >^ave  been 
patient. 

7.  When  the  members  of  a  compound  sentence  are  long, 
they  sometimes  have  a  comma  before  the  conjunction  that 
joins  them : 

1.  The  shipment  was  delivered  to  the  carriers  in  perfect  condi- 
tion, and  we  can  not  be  responsible  for  breakages  happening  in 
transit. 

2.  Our   place   is   small,   but  there  are   many   trees   and   thickets. 

3.  My  farm  is  quite  near  the  main  road,  but  it  is  approached 
by  a  shady  winding   lane. 

When  the  conjunction  is  omitted  in  such  a  sentence,  it 
is  punctuated  with  a  semicolon. 

8.  A  comma  is  often  used  to  prevent  ambiguity  or  to 
avoid  an  absurd  combination. 

1.  Whatever  is,  is  right. 

2.  Who  he  Avas,   is  not  known. 

3.  Over  the  window,  curtains  were  hung. 

4.  Years  after,   I   met  him. 

9.  Use  a  comma  to  separate  large  groups  of  figures  into 


IQQ  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

periods  of  three ;  but  do  not  separate  numbers  used  to  indi- 
cate the  year  in  a  date. 

1.  In    1912   we   began   to    show   our    1913    model;    in    the    early 
summer  of  1913  we  brought  out  our  1914  ear. 

2.  His  salary  advanced  within  six  months  from  $2,750  to  $5,500. 

3.  This  machine,  which  cost  me  $6,500,  has  already  carried  me 
65,000  miles. 

4.  In  March,  1914,  10,146  men  mined  626,865  tons  of  ore. 

10.  The  abbreviation,  etc.,  is  always  preceded  by  a  comma. 

11.  Set  off  by  commas  the  name  of  a  month  defining  a 
week  day,  and  the  number  of  a  year  defining  a  month,  or 
a  day  of  the  month. 

1.  In  March,  1913,  occurred  the  terrible  flood  at  Dayton. 

2.  Tuesday,  June  4,  will  be  the  last  day  for  entries. 

3.  On  January   10,    1912,   he   was   employed   in   our   office. 

Exercise  6 

Supply  the  capitals,  periods,  interrogations,  exclamations, 
semicolons,  colons,  and  commas  needed  in  the  following 
passages : 

1.  intangible  property  called  credits  stocks  mortgages  bonds  etc 
if  they  are  taxed  at  all  are  taxed  twice 

2.  the  law  levies  a  poll-tax  on  a  man  simply  because  he  is  alive 
but  it  does  not  kill  him  as  it  logically  should  when  he  declines  to 

pay 

3.  indeed  is  it  not  about  time  my  friends  that  we  recognize  the 
fact  that  in  education  in  any  right  sense  liberal  and  practical  are 
the  same  thing 

4.  once  get  a  small  boy  interested  in  base-ball  and  he  will  sub- 
ject himself  to  any  hardship  physical  or  mental  to  obtain  any 
knowledge  practical  or  theoretical  that  enlarges  his  skill  or  his 
pleasure  in  the  game 

5.  a  man  is  the  prisoner  of  his  power  a  topical  memory  makes 
him  an  almanac  a  talent  for  debate  a  disputant  skill  to  get  money 
makes  him  a  miser  that  is  a  beggar 

6.  i    give   you   the   latest    and    best    information    on    follow-up 


PUNCTUATION  137 


systems  how  to  collect  money  by  mail  how  to  manage  agents  how 
to  deal  with  women  how  to  write  a  hundred  good  letters  a  day  when 
to  write  a  long  letter  and  when  to  write  a  short  one  and  fifty 
points  even  more  important  in  short  I  give  you  a  complete  system 

7.  the  wool  in  your  suit  is  taxed  nine  times  the  farmer  is 
taxed  for  the  sheep  the  wholesaler  who  buys  the  wool  is  taxed 
the  manufacturer  is  taxed  on  it  as  raw  material  it  is  manufactured 
with  taxed  machinery  and  colored  with  taxed  dyes  as  cloth  it  goes 
to  another  wholesaler  who  is  taxed  on  it  as  stock-in-trade  it  goes 
to  the  merchant  tailor  and  is  taxed  again  it  is  made  into  clothes 
and  is  taxed  as  personal  property  the  ninth  tax  is  the  protective 
tariff 

8.  when  you  discard  your  all-wool  suit  it  goes  to  the  ragman 
then  to  the  shoddy-mill  and  begins  the  round  afresh  taxed  machinery 
to  work  it  up  with  taxed  dyes  to  color  it  with  again  taxes  laid  on 
it  three  or  four  times  as  stock  in  trade  of  wholesaler  and  retailer  and 
finally  some  of  the  wool  that  was  in  your  suit  goes  to  dress  us 
humbler  citizens  who  wear  ready-made  clothes 

9.  on  jan  10  1914  I  ordered  from  your  house  these  articles 
one  gallon  of  shingle  stain  one  gallon  of  varnish  two  quarts  of 
white  enamel  paint  three  cans  of  wall-paper  cleaner 

10.  on  april  10  I  found  in  the  glen  several  flowers  in  bloom 
hepaticus  violets  anemones  trilliums 

11.  the  rammer  being  withdrawn  another  charge  of  concrete  is 
dropped  into  the  casing 

12.  if  you  were  starting  for  instance  for  a  year's  tour  in  the 
orient  how  would  you  arrange  to  take  your  money 

13.  how  quaint  picturesque  and  on  the  whole  charming  the  pres- 
ent styles  in  women's  dress  are 

14.  did  you  ever  hear  of  a  business  man  called  the  hoop-pole 
man  down  in  maine  he  makes  even  better  wages  than  his  brother 
the  gum  picker  he  follows  in  the  wake  of  the  loggers  he  barbers 
the  face  of  the  hillside  of  stuff  that  no  one  else  wants  he  is  after 
the  second  growth  as  the  young  birch  and  ash  are  called  which 
spring  up  around  the  rotting  stumps  of  great  trees  the  hoop-pole 
man  takes  a  horse  with  him  on  his  tours  he  cuts  the  poles  and  the 
horse  hauls  them  to  camp  by  daylight  in  the  evenings  the  hoop- 
pole  man  sitting  by  a  roaring  fire  fashions  the  hoops  with  a  draw 
shave  • 


18g  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

15.  situation  wanted — salesman — young  man  22  experienced  fin- 
ished business  course  at  large  U.  in  June  one  year  with  big  concern 
through  midwest  good  appearance  lots  of  personality  and  ambitious 
desires  connection  with  responsible  concern  on  salary  expenses  and 
commission  best  rofs  Address  D  D  46  Tribune 

7.  The  dash. — This  is  also  a  very  useful  mark  of  punc- 
tuation ;  but  it  has  definite  uses — it  can  not  be  thrown  in  as 
a  substitute  for  any  and  every  mark  of  punctuation,  as 
many  inexperienced  writers  are  prone  to  do. 

Some  writers  on  punctuation  condemn  scornfully  the  use 
of  the  dash  as  found  in  some  advertising  copy,  where  it  is 
used  to  separate  the  items  of  a  series,  declaring  that  such 
use  gives  a  tone  of  excitement  and  hysteria  to  the  passage. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  dash  used  in  such  passages  is 
not  a  mark  of  punctuation  at  all ;  a  real  mark  of  punctua- 
tion is  quite  as  much  an  expression  of  thought  or  feeling 
as  is  a  word.  In  the  case  we  are  discussing,  the  dash  is 
a  mere  mechanical  device  to  separate  the  parts  of  the 
announcement.  If  the  copy-writer  would  write  complete 
sentences,  and  have  them  separated  by  a  short  space,  he 
would  accomplish  his  purpose,  and  save  the  abuse  of  the 
dash. 

The  following  paragraph  from  an  advertisement  exem- 
plifies this  mechanical  use  of  the  dash  : 

Foremost  Farm  Papers  Provide  Class,  National,  State  or  Zone 
Circulation — Co-Operation — and  Unusual  Pulling  Power.  Whether 
you  want  to  reach  the  truck  farmer — fruit  grower — grain  pro- 
ducer— dairyman — cotton  or  tobacco  plantation  owner,  whether  you 
want  to  reach  the  North — South — East  or  West — ^you  can  reach 
the  right  prospect  in  the  right  territory  by  the  use  of  the  Fore- 
most Farm  Paper  List — a  list  of  tremendous  influence  and  great 
result-bringing  power — a  list,  etc.,  etc. 

The  following  are  the  commonest  and  most  important 
uses  of  the  dash  : 


PUNCTUATION  igg 


1.  It  indicates  a  sudden  break  in  tliought,  a  change  of 
construction,  a  humorous,  or  whimsical  addition ;  as, 

1.  When  it  came  to  his  business  troubles — ^but  why  recall  those? 

2.  He   whistled   as   he   went — for   want  of    thought. 

3.  I,  too,  keep  a  shop — that's  why  I  ask  so  many  questions. 

4.  He  passed  over  to  the  silent  majority — he  got  married. 

2.  It  punctuates  parenthetical  and  explanatory  clauses 
less  closely  attached  than  those  set  off  by  commas,  and  more 
closely  attached  than  those  enclosed  in  parentheses;  as, 

1.  The  solution  of  the  labor  problem — if  it  is  ever  solved — 
will  change  the  face  of  society. 

2.  Abou  Ben  Adhem — may  his  tribe  increase — ^Awoke  one  night 
from  a  deep  dream  of  peace. 

3.  The  apology  due  you  has — I  acknowledge  it  with  regret — been 
too  long  delayed. 

3.  It  is  used  before  lists  of  terms  and  details  in  much 
the  same  way  as  a  colon.  The  dash  is  less  stiff  and  formal 
than  a  colon.  When  you  see  a  colon  before  a  list,  you  feel 
that  the  list  should  be  drawn  up  in  columns,  or  at  least  in 
a  numbered  series.  When  you  see  a  dash,  you  feel  satis- 
fied to  have  the  details  run  into  the  sentence,  separated  from 
one  another  by  commas  or  semicolons ;  as, 

1.  Such  legislation  affects  all  kinds  of  business  men — manufac- 
turers, jobbers,  wholesalers,  and  retailers. 

2.  These  are  words  that  stir  the  souls  of  all  men — culture, 
power,    influence,    usefulness. 

3.  We  find  in  coal-tar  wonderful  things — medicines,  dyes,  per- 
fumes, flavors. 

4.  The  dash  is  used  in  an  arrangement  precisely  the 
opposite  of  3 — when  the  items  or  details  are  named  first, 
and  then  separated  by  a  dash  from  a  summing-up  phrase ;  as, 

1.  Courage,  patience,  ambition,  industry — these  are  the  qual- 
ities that  win. 

2.  Quality,  durability,  distinction — these  are  the  marks  of  our 
goods. 


190  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

3.  Accuracy,  enthusiasm,  imagination — little  else,  besides  merely 
correct  English,  is  needed  in  a  business  letter. 

5.  Use  the  dash  to  indicate  figures  omitted  between  two 
terminal  numbers — 

1.  The  Association  of  National  Advertising  Managers  met  in 
Chicago,  April  2-4. 

2.  For  a  report  of  the  proceedings,  see  pp.  15-29. 

6.  Use  both  period  and  dash  after  side-heads  when  they 
are  ''run  in";  the  dash  only  when  they  are  paragraphed; 
as, 

1.  The  inflection  of  adjectives  and  adverbs. — These  words,  etc. 

2.  The  inflection  of  adjectives  and  adverbs — 
These  words  undergo,  etc. 

7.  Don't  use  a  dash  after  the  salutation  of  a  formal  let- 
ter; use  a  colon;  don't  use  both. 

8.  The  parenthesis. — ^Explanations,  definitions,  and  com- 
ment that  stand  distinctly  apart  from  the  thought  of  your 
sentence  should  be  enclosed  in  parentheses ;  as, 

1.  I  am  compelled  by  circumstances  (which  I  am  quite  willing 
to  make  known)  to  seek  a  new  position. 

2.  You  will  find  in  our  catalogue  (pg.  28)  a  description  of  the 
machine  you  want. 

3.  The  Latin  word  for  follow-up  (persequor)  has  very  signifi- 
cantly given  us  the  English  word  persecute. 

9.  Brackets. — These  marks  enclose  matter  inserted  or 
added  by  someone  not  the  author — a  reporter,  an  editor, 
or  publisher ;  as, 

1.  There  are  near  a  quarter  of  a  million  words  in  the  English 
language  [The  New  Standard  Dictionary  contains  450,000. — The 
Editor.] 

2.  The  American  school  teacher  is  the  first  follower  of  the  flag. 
[Applause.] 

Since  there  are  no  brackets  on  the  keyboard  of  the  stand- 


PUNCTUATION  jgi 


ard  typewriters,  typists  are  obliged  to  use  the  parenthesis. 
If,  however,  they  are  preparing  copy  for  any  but  the  most 
expert  printers,  they  should  write  the  brackets  in  with  the 
pen. 

10.  The  apostrophe. — You  have  already  learned,  in  other 
connections,  the  uses  of  the  apostrophe ;  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
this  mark  like  the  hyphen,  is  a  detail  of  spelling  rather 
than  of  punctuation.    The  following  are  its  uses : 

1.  To  help  form  the  possessive  of  nouns : 

A  lady's  fan,  ladies'  suits;  a  man's  job,  men's  opinions. 

2.  To  help  form  the  plural  of  numerals,  letters  of  the 
alphabet,  and  words  that  properly  have  no  plurals: 

1.  You  made  a  mistake  in  adding  the  8's. 

2.  Spell  collateral  with  two  Vs. 

3.  Don't  sprinkle  your  speech  with  excrescent  say^s  and  well's. 

3.  To  indicate  omitted  letters  in  contractions;  as,  donH, 
canH. 

The  cockney  pronunciation  is  ^at. 
Say  whatf  not  w'at. 

11.  The  quotation  marks. — 1.  When  the  words  of  an- 
other are  quoted  precisely,  they  should  be  enclosed  in  quo- 
tation marks: 

1.  The  spirit  of  our  conference  should  be,  "Come  let  us  reason 
together." 

2.  We  have  not  as  a  nation  forgotten  the  maxim,  "Millions  for 
defence,  but  not  a  cent  for  tribute." 

When  the  quotation  consists  of  several  paragraphs, 
quotation  marks  should  be  used  at  the  beginning  of  each 
paragraph  and  at  the  end  of  the  whole  quotation. 

2.  When  the  quotation  is  interrupted  by  the  writer's 
own  words,  both  sections  of  the  quotation  should  be  enclosed 
in  quotation  marks. 


192  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

1.  "We  are  confronted,"  said  Cleveland,  "by  a  condition,  not  a 
theory." 

2.  "It  is  the  duty  of  the  citizen  to  support  the  government," 
said  Cleveland,  "not  the  duty  of  the  government  to  support  the 
citizen." 


3.  Do  not  use  quotation  marks  when  you  turn  the  words 
into  the  indirect  form.     Notice  the  diiference: 


He  said,  "Where  shall  I  find  the  manager?" 
He  asked  where  he  should  find  the  manager. 


4.  Do  not  use  quotation  marks  for  an  expression  that  has 
been  used  so  often  as  to  be  familiar  to  everybody.  It  is 
a  reflection  on  a  reader 's  intelligence  to  quote,  Lay  on  Mac- 
duff,  to  he  or  not  to  he,  the  sins  of  the  fathers,  nuin's 
inhumanity  to  man,  holy  state  of  matrimony,  or  any  expres- 
sion so  familiar. 

5.  In  written  matter  not  intended  to  be  printed,  quote  aU 
titles  of  books,  treatises,  poems,  sets  of  books,  lectures, 
pictures,  and  other  works  of  art,  and  the  names  of  ships. 
If  you  are  preparing  a  manuscript  for  publication,  consult 
an  experienced  printer,  or  a  special  manual  on  printing, 
concerning  the  treatment  of  titles,  citations,  etc.  Notice 
the  following: 


1.  Series  of  books:  "English  Men  of  Letters";  "The  Encyclopedia 
Brittanica." 

2.  Volumes:  "Business  a  Profession";  "Ivanhoe";  "The  Scarlet 
Letter." 

3.  Poems  and  essays,  lectures,  etc.:  "Ordered  South";  "The 
Conduct  of  Life";  "To  a  Skylark";  "The  Cotter's  Saturday  Night"; 
"Japan — Its  Present,  Past,  and  Future." 


PUNCTUATION  193 


4.  Pictures  and  statues,  operas,  etc.:  "The  Holy  Family"; 
"Mona  Lisa";   "The  Dying  Gaul";   "II  Trovatore." 

5.  Ships:      S.  S.  "Arabic";   "Mauretania." 

6.  Quote  words  or  phrases  to  which  particular  attention 
is  called ;  a  word  that  is  followed  by  its  definition ;  an 
unusual,  newly  invented,  or  humorously  used  word;  words 
offered  as  illustrations,  or  otherwise  mentioned  merely  as 
words,  to  set  them  off  from  the  text. 

In  a  technical  treatise  on  language,  as  for  example,  in  this 
book,  words  are  used  in  this  way  so  frequently,  and  often  in 
so  long  a  list,  that  to  quote  them  would  be  to  disfigure  the 
page  with  punctuation  marks,  and  to  put  an  undue  strain 
on  the  eyes  of  the  reader.  In  such  a  case  the  words  are 
italicized. 

Notice  the  following  examples : 

1.  The  term  "lynch  law"  had  an  interesting  origin. 

2.  The  terms  "good"  and  "bad"  take  on  new  meaning  in  the 
ethics  of  our  day. 

3.  He  was  wearing  a  "screaming"  necktie. 

4.  We  thought  we  had  bought  a  "fool-proof"  car. 

5.  "Demurrage"  means  the  payment  a  shipper  makes  for  detain- 
ing a  car  or  a  boat  beyond  the  time  allowed  for  loading  and  un- 
loading. 

If  you  use  an  occasional  word  of  slang,  quote  it.  If  you 
habitually  use  slang,  don't  quote  it.  Nothing  could  be 
more  irritating  than  the  peppering  of  a  page  with  quota- 
tions marks  used  to  apologize  for  the  slang  of  a  writer  who 
has  not  taken  the  pains  to  learn  a  decent  vocabulary.  The 
following  sentence  was  actually  seen  in  an  article  in  a 
business  magazine : 

"Take  it  from  me"  we  are  "up  against"  a  "stiff"  proposition. 


194  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

If  that  is  your  vocabulary,  either  don't  write,  or  don't 
quote. 

7.  Sometimes  there  is  a  quotation  inside  the  passage  you 
quote.  In  that  case  you  use  the  double  quotation  marks 
for  the  main  passage  quoted,  and  single  marks  for  the  inner 
quotation;  as, 

The  critic  says:  " Milton *s  judgment  that  'poetry  must  be  sim- 
ple, sensuous,  and  impassioned,'  is  still  just." 

Exercise  7 

Punctuate  the  following  passages,  supplying  also  such 
capitals  as  are  missing ; 

1.  There  are  five  sources  of  public  revenue  1  public  loans  2  public 
domain  3  public  industries  and  investments  4  fees  and  assessments 
5  taxation 

2.  The  forms  of  taxation  are  these  general  property  tax  customs 
duties  excise  taxes  income  taxes  inheritance  taxes  corporation  and 
business    taxes 

3.  In  response  to  your  letter  of  June  12  may  we  ask  what  did  you 
find  wrong  with  the  coffee  in  what  respect  did  it  differ  from  what 
you  have  formerly  received  can  you  without  inconvenience  give  us 
some  information  as  to  how  the  coffee  was  prepared  for  the  table 
and  the  quantity  used  will  you  return  to  us  a  small  sample  to  be 
submitted  to  our  coffee  expert  for  examination 

4.  Which  man  renders  the  greater  service  to  his  country  the  sol- 
dier in  the  army  or  the  worker  in  industry  which  more  deserves  a 
pension  should  we  develop  a  system  of  workingraen's  insurance 
against  various  casualties  sickness  accident  unemployment  old 
age   death 

5.  In  that  somewhat  distant  year  1875  when  the  telegraph  and 
the  atlantic  cable  were  the  most  wonderful  things  in  the  world 
a  tall  young  professor  of  elocution  was  desperately  busy  in  a  noisy 
machine-shop  that  stood  in  one  of  the  narrow  streets  of  boston 
not  far  from  scollay  square  it  was  a  very  hot  afternoon  in  June 
but  the  young  professor  had  forgotten  the  heat  and  the  grime 
of  the  workshop  he  was  wholly  absorbed  in  the  making  of  a  non- 
descript machine  a  sort  of  crude  harmonica  with  a  clock-spring 
reed  a  magnet  and  a  wire  it  was  a  most  absurd  toy  in  appearance 


PUNCTUATION  195 


it  was  unlike  any  other  thing  that  had  ever  been  made  in  any  coun- 
try the  young  professor  had  been  toiling  over  it  for  three  years  and  it 
had  constantly  baffled  him  until  on  this  hot  afternoon  in  June 
1875  he  heard  an  almost  inaudible  sound  a  faint  twang  come  from 
the  machine  itself  that  twang  of  the  clock-spring  was  the  first  tiny 
cry  of  the  new-born  telephone  uttered  in  the  clanging  din  of  a 
machine  shop  and  happily  heard  by  a  man  whose  ear  had  been 
trained  to  recognize  the  strange  voice  of  the  little  newcomer  there 
amidst  flying  belts  and  jarring  wheels  the  baby  telephone  was  bom 
as  feeble  and  helpless  as  any  other  baby  and  with  no  language  but 
a  cry 

6.  the  salutation  should  be  used  in  beginning  every  letter  ex- 
cept these  a  public  letter  a  letter  addressing  a  body  of  men  and 
women  when  the  individuals  are  not  thought  of  the  most  common 
business  salutations  are  dear  sir  my  dear  sir  gentlemen  and  dear 
madam  use  dear  sir  in  addressing  a  man  and  use  gentlemen  in 
addressing  a  firm  a  woman  should  be  addressed  as  dear  madam 
whether  she  be  married  or  not  in  addressing  a  very  young  lady  use 
her  name  dear  miss  lewis 

7.  mr.  William  hard  writing  in  "Everybody's  Magazine"  says  the 
Wrights  invented  the  combination  of  the  use  of  a  vertical  rudder 
with  the  use  of  a  warping  mechanism 

That  warping  mechanism  had  to  do  with  the  long  rear  edges  of 
their  out-stretched  wings  the  edges  which  in  a  bird  are  fluttering 
feather-tips 

When  the  aeroplane  rolled  to  the  right  reeling  to  a  capsize  they 
warped  their  right  wing  to  catch  more  air  that  is  they  bent  the 
rear  edges  of  their  canvas  planes  along  the  right  side  of  their 
machine  downward  so  that  side  got  more  air  pressure  under  it  as 
it  rushed  along  and  it  rose 

At  the  same  time  and  by  the  same  act  they  gave  a  reverse  twist 
to  their  other  wing  that  is  they  bent  the  rear  edges  of  their  canvas 
planes  along  the  left  side  of  their  machine  upward  so  that  side  got 
little  or  no  air  pressure  under  it  and  it  sank 

Meanwhile  they  had  turned  their  vertical  rudder  toward  the 
high  side  the  left  side  of  their  tilted  machine  and  thus  vertical- 
ruddered  and  warp-winged  they  did  what  no  one  else  had  been  able 
to  do  before  they  stayed  in  the  air 

Such  was  their  invention  such  was  their  contribution  to  the 
art  of  flying 


CHAPTER  XII 

BUSINESS  COMPOSITION 
A.    LETTERS 

A  large  part  of  the  world 's  business  is  at  present  carried 
on  by  letters.  This  state  of  the  case  has  been  brought  about 
by  the  enormous  increase  of  advertising,  creating  a  national 
and  international  market  in  print;  the  amazing  develop- 
ment of  mail  service;  the  facilities  for  making  and  multi- 
plying letters  afforded  by  the  stenographer,  the  dictagraph, 
the  typewriter,  and  the  devices  for  multiplying  copies ;  and 
the  ease,  rapidity,  and  safety  of  transportation. 

The  letter  as  a  business  agent  has  many  advantages : 

It  is  an  economical  and  effective  advertiser. 

It  is  a  courteous  and  eloquent  salesman  who  is  never  de- 
nied an  audience. 

It  is  a  pleasant,  discriminating  customer  who  generally 
knows  what  he  wants  and  who  wastes  no  time. 

It  is  a  polite  but  persistent  collector. 

It  annihilates  distance  between  buyer  and  seller. 

It  is  a  contract  made  without  fee  or  formality. 

It  serves  as  a  permanent,  trustworthy  record  of  the  trans- 
action. 

The  training  that  one  must  have  for  the  position  of  cor- 
respondent in  a  large  modern  business  is,  if  one  gets  it  in 
the  schools,  equal  to  a  professional  education;  or  it  comes 
as  the  product  of  a  long,  absorbing  experience.  But  any  man 
or  woman  engaged  in  practical  affairs  may  have  occasion  to 

196 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  197 

write  a  business  letter ;  and  there  is  easily  accessible  a  large 
field  of  knowledge  concerning  business  correspondence  of 
which  the  young  student  as  well  as  the  ordinary  man  of 
affairs  may  quickly  possess  himself. 

The  letter  is  the  type  form  of  business  expression.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  there  are  three  processes  in  business  com- 
munication, and  only  three : 

1.  The  inquiry  about  something  you  need,  or  are  inter- 
ested in; 

2.  The  giving  of  information  about  something  the  other 
man  desires  or  ought  to  desire ; 

3.  The  sale  and  purchase  of  the  desired  and  desirable 
article. 

All  business  writing — letters,  advertisements,  circulars — 
are  concerned  with  one  or  all  of  these  three  processes.  A 
good  sales-letter  is  a  good  advertisement ;  a  good  advertise- 
ment is  only  a  letter  to  an  unlimited  number  of  possible 
buyers ;  in  a  good  letter  or  a  good  advertisement  you  use  the 
same  material,  and,  with  a  very  few  differences,  the  same 
method  you  use  in  a  face-to-face  interview. 

Convention  has  decreed  that  certain  things  about  a  busi- 
ness letter  shall  be  as  they  are,  and  it  is  unwise  to  vary  from 
them;  there  is  no  room  for  originality  in  these  formal  and 
accepted  things;  to  deviate  from  them  would  merely  be  to 
declare  yourself  an  uninformed  person. 

The  discussion  of  Letters  which  follows  is  largely  con- 
cerned with  those  matters  that  must  appear  in  a  business 
letter. 

1.  A  good  first  impression. — To  get  the  very  real  benefit 
that  comes  of  a  good  first  impression,  observe  the  following 
precautions: 

1.  Use  stationery  of  good  quality  and  of  accepted  form. 
Business  letter  paper  is  in  single  sheets  about  81/^x11, 
preferably  white;  envelopes  should  match  and  fit. 


198  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

2.  Penmanship  or  typewriting  should  be  good. 

3.  The  pages  must  be  free  from  blots,  erasures,  and  other 
corrections. 

4.  The  letter  should  be  attractively  arranged  on  the  page. 
a)  The  margin  at  top  and  bottom  varies  with  the  length 

of  the  letter,  but  it  must  never  be  less  than  an  inch  and  a 
half.  Study  the  relation  of  these  margins  on  the  page  of 
a  well-printed  book. 

h)  The  side  margins  should  not  be  less  than  an  inch  in 
width.  In  a  short  letter  they  may  be  wider.  The  letter 
should  be  *' centered"  on  the  page  so  as  to  present  a  sym- 
metrical design  to  the  eye.  The  left-hand  margin  should 
be  kept  absolutely  even — the  right-hand  as  even  as  possible. 

5.  Nothing  should  be  written  in  the  margin  or  across 
what  has  already  been  written. 

6.  Business  letters  should  be  written  on.  one  side  of  the 
paper  only.  Social  letters  should  be  written  on  consecutive 
pages— 1,  2,  3,  4,  not  1,  3,  4,  2. 

7.  Avoid  postscripts.  The  device  of  securing  attention 
by  putting  important  matter  into  a  postscript,  that  one 
sometimes  sees  in  sales-letters,  is  inartistic  and  amounts 
to  a  confession  of  weakness. 

8.  The  signature  must  be  legible. 

9.  The  letter  must  be  folded  properly — 

a)  Fold  the  lower  edge  of  the  sheet  up  to  within  a  quarter 
of  an  inch  of  the  top.  This  margin  makes  the  letter  easy  to 
unfold. 

h)  Make  a  second  fold  from  right  to  left,  making  almost 
three  equal  divisions. 

c)  Make  the  third  fold  from  left  to  right,  leaving  a 
quarter-inch  margin  on  the  right. 

d)  Place  the  letter  in  the  envelope  so  that  the  top  of 
the  letter  is  in  the  left  end  of  the  envelope  as  you  hold  it 
open  toward  you. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  I99 

2.  The  formal  parts  of  a  letter. — There  are  eight  parts 
or  items  to  be  discussed  on  the  formal  side  of  a  business 
letter:  the  heading;  the  date;  the  address;  the  salutation; 
the  body  of  the  letter ;  the  complimentary  close ;  the  signa- 
ture; the  direction  on  the  envelope. 

The  following  diagram  shows  how  the  various  parts  of  a 
letter  should  be  arranged  on  the  letterhead : 


( 1 )       The  Heading 


(2)   The  Date 

(3)   

The  Address 


(4) The  Salutation 

( 5 ) 


The  Body 


(6) The  Complimentary  Close 

(7)   The  Signature 

1.  The  Heading. — This  consists  of  the  name  and  address 
— on  business  stationery  generally  printed  or  engraved — 
of  the  person,  firm,  or  company  sending  the  letter ;  it  may 
contain  the  telephone  address,  the  cable  address,  the  names 
of  the  officials  of  the  company,  and  other  facts  necessary  for 


200  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

the  information  of  correspondents.  The  arrangement  and 
contents  of  this  heading  are  matters  of  taste ;  its  place  on  the 
sheet  is  conventional  and  fixed. 

When  the  printed  or  engraved  head  is  not  used,  a  head- 
ing giving  the  full  address  of  the  writer  is  written,  prefer- 
ably at  the  right  hand  near  the  top. of  the  sheet,  in  two 
lines — three  if  the  address  is  long. 

The  present  tendency  is  to  do  away  with  both  abbrevia- 
tions and  punctuation  in  the  heading.  You  will,  however, 
see  both  used.  Examples  of  both  styles  are  given  below. 
Whatever  style  you  decide  upon,  adhere  to  it  consistently. 
Certain  firms  have  a  long-established  custom  and  a  his- 
torical heading  which  they  would  not  be  willing  to  change. 
Examples  are  given  of  headings  with  the  ordinary  inden- 
tion, and  of  those  arranged  in  the  so-called  block  form. 
Since  the  direction  on  the  envelope  of  letters  written  to  you 
will  be  identical  with  the  heading  of  your  letter,  this  head- 
ing should  be  full  and  accurate.  It  is  not  safe  to  omit  the 
name  of  a  state,  even  after  the  name  of  one  of  our  largest 
cities ;  there  are  no  less  than  thirteen  Bostons  in  the  United 
States. 

2.  The  Date. — This  gives  the  name  of  the  month,  the  day 
of  the  month,  and  the  year.  The  present  tendency  is  not 
to  abbreviate  the  name  of  the  month.  The  ordinal  endings 
— nd,  rd,  th — are  not  used  after  the  day  of  the  month.  A 
comma  separates  the  day  of  the  month  from  the  year.  No 
period  is  used  after  the  year.  Do  not,  under  any  circum- 
stances, use  the  form  7/25/14  in  the  date  of  a  letter.  The 
following  are  examples  of  headings  and  dates : 


G.  H.  KlIVO,   VZOB   Pbbsidemt. 

H.  W.  KOSOOB.  CAsaiaa. 

H.  VaI7  ClESVJB,  Asst  Oashcbiu 

K.  C.  SOSB.  Aas-x  CAsmzn^ 


CAPITAL  %  I.OOO.OOO. 


c^^^^^'i^ueo; 


Octobar  16,19- 


TUC  liM>:US<IX  UOTEL  «X» 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  201 

THE  EMERSON 

HAI.TIMORE  AND  CALVERT  STREKTS 


BALTEVfOKE   October  2a         19  - 


355  Water  Street  355  Water  Street 

Portland,  Oregon  Portland,  Oregon 

June  14,  19 June  14,  19 

Suite  317,  Home  Insurance  Building 
137  South  La  Salle  Street 
Chicago,  Illinois 

July  7,  19.... 

Suite  317,  Home  Insurance  Building 
137  South  La  Salle  Street 
Chicago,  Illinois 
July  7,  19.... 

Exercise  1 

Arrange  the  following  items  correctly  in  headings  and 
dates : 

1.  bell  block  benton  harbor  michigan  June  14  19.  .  .  . 

2.  room  315  shawmut  building  1415  dolman  street  st  louis  mis- 
souri 

3.  678  oak  st  san  francisco  mar  26  19.  .  .  . 

4.  advertising  association  of  Chicago  123  west  madison  street 
Chicago  June  25  19.  .  . . 

5.  office  of  grant  hamlin  the  rookery  st  paul 

3.  The  Address. — The  business  name  and  address  of  the 
person  written  to  should  be  placed  at  the  beginning  of  every 
business  letter  at  the  left  and  below  the  date  line — the  name 
in  a  line  by  itself,  beginning  on  the  letter  margin ;  the 
address  in  two  lines  below,  each  of  the  lines  slightly  indented. 
The  block  form  of  arrangement  may  be  used.  This  address 
should  be  correct  in  every  particular,  since  it  is  identical 


202  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

with  the  direction  that  will  appear  on  the  envelope.  The 
proper  title  of  the  person  written  to  should  be  used  in  this 
address.    The  most  commonly  used  titles  are  the  following : 

Mr.  used  for  any  man  above  fourteen  years  of  age  and  not  known 
to  have  another  title. 

Messrs.  the  plural  of  Mr.,  used  in  addressing  a  firm  of  two  or 
more  men. 

Esq.  for  Esquire,  frequently  used  as  a  business  address.  It  is  placed 
after  the  name.  Both  Mr.  and  Esq.  can  not  be  used.  Esq. 
is  less  used  than  formerly,  but  it  remains  in  the  address 
of  members  of  the  legal  profession,  mayors,  justices  of  the 
peace,  and  state  officials  other  than  the  Governor. 

Miss  used  for  an  unmarried  woman  j  a  firm  of  unmarried  women 
would  be  addressed  as  Misses. 

Mrs.  used  for  a  married  woman  and  prefixed  to  her  husband 's  name ; 
if  she  is  a  widow  it  is  prefixed  to  her  Christian  name. 

Mesdames  abbreviated  Mmes.  and  used  in  addressing  a  firm  or  other 
group  of  women  in  which  there  are  married  women  or  wid- 
ows. If  Mrs.  Hart  and  Mrs.  Kaynor  are  partners  or  if 
Mrs.  Hart  and  Miss  Kaynor  are  partners — in  either  case 
the  firm  is  addressed  by  Mmes. 

Eon.  abbreviation  of  Honorable,  used  for  those  who  occupy  or  have 
occupied  important  public  positions,  cabinet  officers,  senators, 
ambassadors,  members  of  Congress  and  of  state  legislatures, 
judges,  etc. 

Bev.  abbreviation  for  Eeverend,  used  for  a  clergyman.  Bev.  Br. 
may  be  used  for  a  clergyman  who  has  one  of  the  scholastic 
doctor's  degrees. 

Br.  used  for  a  doctor  of  medicine  and  frequently  for  any  one  hold- 
ing one  of  the  scholastic  doctor's  degrees;  as,  Doctor  of 
Philosophy — Ph.D.,  or  Doctor  of  Laws — LL.D.  You  must 
not   both    prefix   the    title   Br.   and   affix   Ph.B.,   M.B.,   etc. 

Prof,  abbreviated  from  Professor,  belongs  by  right  only  to  one 
elected  or  appointed  to  a  certain  position  in  a  degree-giving 
institution  of  learning;  or  by  courtesy  to  one  who  has  become 
an  expert  or  an  authority  in  some  branch  of  learning.  It  is 
used  very  carelessly  as  applied  to  all  kinds  and  grades  of 
teachers. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  203 

The  President  of  the  United  States  may  be  addressed : 
To  the  President,  Executive  Mansion,  W<ishington,  D.  C. 

In  writing  to  a  corporation,  as  for  example,  The  Western 
Electric  Co.,  a  title  is  not  used. 

4.  The  Salutation. — All  letters  except  public  letters, 
which  are  letters  intended  for  publication,  should  have  this 
little  phrase  of  greeting.  The  common  business  salutations 
are — 

Gentlemen,  or  Dear  Sirs,  when  writing  to  a  firm,  a  company,  or  a 
corporation. 

Dear  Sir,  or  My  dear  Sir,  when  writing  to  one  man. 

A  very  formal  salutation,  as  to  the  President,  is  Sir. 

Madam,  Dear  Madam,  or  My  dear  Madam,  when  writing  to  one 
woman. 

Mesdames,  when  writing  to  a  firm  or  other  group  of  women. 

The  first  word  and  every  important  word  in  the  saluta- 
tion is  written  with  a  capital.  The  word  dear  does  not  have 
a  capital  unless  it  stands  first. 

In  business  and  all  formal  letters  the  best  usage  seems 
to  call  for  a  colon  after  the  salutation.  Other  punctuations 
are  often  seen,  and  are  supported  by  good  authority.  It  is 
best  to  adopt  a  usage  and  keep  consistently  to  it.  After  the 
salutation  of  an  informal  or  friendly  letter,  a  comma  may 
be  used ;  as.  Dear  George,  My  dear  Olson,  etc. 

The  salutation  begins  with  the  letter  margin. 

The  following  are  examples  of  addresses  and  proper  salu- 
tations : 

1.  Mr.  P.  M.  Gilroy 

1733  E.  41st  Street 

Los  Angeles,  California 
My  dear  Sir: 

2.  Mrs.  P.  M.  Gilroy 

1733  E.  41st  Street 

Los  Angeles,  California. 
My  dear  Madam: 


204  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

3.  United  Fruit  Company 

Long  Wharf 

Boston,  Mass. 

Gentlemen  : 

4.  Messrs.  D.  C.  Heath  4"  Company 

S31-241  West  39th  Street 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Gentlemen  : 

5.  Dr.  Shelby  C.  Clarke 

Longmont 
Colorado 
Dear  Sir: 

6.  Hon.  William  Jennings  Bryan 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Dear  Sir: 

7.  Professcr  John  M.  Manly 

The  University  of  Chicago 

Chicago,  III. 
My  dear  Sib: 

Exercise  2 

Arrange  the  following  addresses  correctly  and  give  the 
proper  title  and  salutation : 

1.  Henry  Hoyt  a  lawyer  678  Oak  St.  San  Francisco  Cal. 

2.  Alexander  Martin  a  pastor  West  Brattleboro  Vt, 

3.  Northern  Furniture  Company  Sheboygan  Wisconsin. 

4.  Sidney  Mill  and  Lumber  Co.  Sidney    N.  Y. 

5.  H.  W.  Fleming  a  dentist  Campello  Mass. 

6.  National  Cable  Manufacturing  Co.   Niles  Michigan. 

7.  Miss  L.  M.  Herron  329  Arsenal  Avenue  Indianapolis. 

8.  Walter  H.  Page  American  Ambassador  to  Italy. 

9.  Percival  Lowell   head   of  the   department  of   astronomy  Har- 
vard University. 

10.  Paul    McFarland    teacher     of    mathematics     Technical     High 
School  Indianapolis  Ind. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  205 

11.  L.  C.  Demarest  and  C.  S.  Harper  partners  in  business  119  Ta- 
coma  St.  Seattle  Washington. 

12.  Carter  Harrison  mayor  of   Chicago. 

13.  Merritt  W.  Pinckney  judge  in  the  Court  of  Domestic  Eela- 
tions  Chicago  111. 

14.  Hugh  P.  Hughes  member  of  the  Supreme  Court  Judicial  Build- 
ing New  York. 

15.  Landor  A.  Barrett  a  Doctor  of  Philosophy  care  of  American 
Express  Company  Berlin  S.  W.  Germany. 

5.  The  Body  of  the  Letter. — This  must  be  discussed  at 
length,  and  is  taken  up  below. 

6.  The  Complimentary  Close. — If  the  salutation  is  the 
greeting,  the  complimentary  close  is  the  leave-taking — a 
phrase  of  respect  and  courtesy  following  the  letter  proper 
and  immediately  preceding  the  signature.  So  far  as  busi- 
ness letters  go,  we  are  practically  limited  in  present  usage 
to  Yours  truly,  Very  truly  yours,  Yours  very  truly,  or,  in  a 
letter  to  a  superior.  Respectfully  yours.  Informal  and 
friendly  letters  use  Sincerely  yours,  Cordially  yours,  etc. 

The  complimentary  close  should  begin  at  a  point  about 
half-way  from  left  to  right.  There  should  be  nothing  else 
on  the  line.  A  capital  letter  is  used  for  its  first  word  and  a 
comma  comes  after  it;  as,  Yours  truly.  Very  truly  yours, 
YourS;  etc.,  is  never  to  be  tolerated. 

7.  The  Signature. — In  the  first  place,  the  signature 
should  be  legible.  It  is  now  conceded  that  a  well  and  plain- 
ly written  signature  is  the  most  difficult  to  forge;  so  the 
theory  that  an  undecipherable  tangle  is  a  protection  against 
forgers  no  longer  holds. 

The  signature  should  always  be  written  with  pen  and  ink, 
and,  if  possible,  by  the  person  composing  the  letter.  It 
should  be  written  on  the  line  below  the  complimentary  close, 
and  so  placed  as  to  bring  the  end  of  the  name  to  the  right 
margin. 


206  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

A  woman  who  signs  a  business  letter  should  indicate  her 
title  J  as, 

Lucy  R.  Meade 
(Mrs.  Henry  R.) 
(Mrs.)   Lucy  E.  Meade 
(Miss)   Lucy  E.  Meade 

When  the  firm  name  is  signed,  the  name  or  initials  of 
the  person  writing  the  letter  should  be  written  below ;  as, 

Very  truly  yours, 

Holt  &  Eaton 
By  H. 

8.  The  Direction  on  the  Envelope. — This  is  identical  in 
substance  with  the  address.  (See  above,  3.)  The  name  of 
the  person  should  be  written  about  midway  between  the  top 
and  bottom  of  the  envelope. 

In  the  line  below  and  a  little  to  the  right  (five  typewriter 
spaces) ,  the  number  of  the  building  and  name  of  the  street ; 
in  the  line  below  this  (another  five  typewriter  spaces  to  the 
right),  the  name  of  the  city;  in  the  next  line  and  similarly 
indented,  the  name  of  the  state.  Or  it  may  be  arranged  in 
block  form. 

The  present  tendency  is  to  avoid  abbreviations  of  the 
words  street y  avenue,  square,  park,  etc.,  and  to  dispense  with 
punctuation  except  the  periods  after  abbreviations.  You 
will,  however,  see  many  directions  that  show  commas  at  the 
end  of  each  line  and  a  period  at  the  end,  whether  or  not  the 
name  of  the  state  is  abbreviated. 

Every  line  of  the  direction  should  begin  with  a  capital. 

In  the  lower  left-hand  corner  may  be  written  such  direc- 
tions as  Private,  To  Be  Forwarded,  Attention  of  Mr.  Dorst, 
c/o  Holt  &  Eaton.  If  you  use  the  sign  c/o  do  not  use  a 
capital  c. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  207 

Sad  to  say,  the  following  injunction  is  needed:  Place 
the  stamp  in  the  upper  right  hand  corner  of  the  envelope  in 
an  upright  position. 

For  foreign  correspondence  provide  yourself  with  stamps 
of  correct  denomination. 

The  following  are  examples  of  correct  addresses: 

Yawman  &  Eebe  Mfg.  Co. 
438  St.  Paul  Street 
eochester 

New  York 

Messrs.  Marwick,  Mitchell,  Peat  &  Co. 
105  S.  LaSalle  St. 
Chicago 
III. 

Prof.  Karl  Young 

The  University  of  Wisconsin 
Madison 

Wisconsin 

We  will  take  up  now  the  discussion  of  the  body  of  the 
letter  (see  5,  above).  This  is,  of  course,  the  letter,  the 
message,  the  composition.  The  following  cautions  and  in- 
junctions apply  to  all  letters : 

1.  As  in  any  other  composition  think  it  out  before  you 
begin  to  write :  until  you  have  had  a  great  deal  of  experi- 
ence it  is  a  good  thing  to  jot  down  as  they  occur  to  you  the 
items  that  you  want  to  take  up.  When  you  see  them  before 
you,  you  can  decide  on  the  paragraphing,  and  on  the  rela- 
tive importance  of  the  items,  and  consequently  on  the  order 
in  which  you  will  handle  them.  If  you  are  replying  to  a 
letter,  analyze  it  carefully;  jot  down  in  the  margin  the 
items  you  are  to  handle,  indicating  the  one  that  is  to  receive 
most  emphasis. 

You  can  not  make  it  an  invariable  rule  to  give  precisely 


208  ESSENTIALS  OP  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

one  paragraph  to  an  item.  This  can  be  done  only  when  the 
items  are  of  equal  importance  and  complexity.  You  will 
have  gathered  from  the  exercises  in  composition  interspersed 
among  your  lessons  that  you  need  a  new  paragraph  for  each 
new  aspect  of  a  topic.  The  letter  that  you  write  may  have 
one  item  concerning  which  you  may  have  to  make  a  long 
explanation.  This  item  you  may  have  to  handle  in  more 
than  one  paragraph,  both  for  the  sake  of  clearness  and  for 
the  sake  of  your  correspondent's  patience  and  power  of 
attention,  while  the  other  items  take  but  a  single  paragraph. 
For  instance:  A  customer  orders  from  your  house  three 
articles,  two  of  which  you  are  forwarding  immediately; 
the  order  for  the  third  was  so  vague  that  you  must  ask  for 
further  particulars;  you  may  try  to  assist  by  describing 
things  you  have  in  stock  of  the  same  kind ;  you  specify  the 
details  you  need  to  have  before  you  can  fill  the  order. 

You  can  see  that  the  third  item  handled  in  your  letter 
has  three  aspects,  and  should  have  three  short  paragraphs, 
while  the  other  two  are  disposed  of  in  one  paragraph  each. 
Let  your  outline  show  this  before  you  begin  to  write. 

2.  In  the  reaction  against  a  conventional  stilted  style  of 
business  letters,  almost  legal  in  its  colorlessness  and  round- 
aboutness,  we  show  signs  of  going  to  the  other  extreme. 
*' Write  as  you  talk"  is  an  injunction  you  frequently  hear. 
"Well,  that  depends — on  how  you  talk.  If  you  talk  like  a 
garrulous  maiden  aunt,  your  business  letters  may  sound 
like  this  (an  actual  extract  from  a  so-called  business 
letter) : 

Concerning  your  remark  that  you  hardly  deem  it  right  to  sell 
witch-hazel,  Jamaica  ginger,  peppermint,  and  wintergreen  because  of 
the  presence  of  alcohol  in  them,  we  can  only  say  that  without  alcohol 
these  articles  would  be  impossible.  Jamaica  ginger  finds  its  original 
source  in  the  root  of  an  oily  substance.  Peppermint  comes  from  an 
oil,  and  wintergreen  does  also.     Oil  is  not  soluble  in  water,  and  for 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  209 

that  reason  it  is  necessary  to  use  alcohol  in  the  preparation  of  prac- 
tically all  extracts  in  order  to  produce  the  proper  solution. 

You  will  see  from  the  above  that  alcohol  really  has  its  legitimate 
uses,  and,  when  associated  with  flavoring  extracts,  witch-hazel,  and  a 
variety  of  other  daily  needs,  it  is  really  a  good  agency.  We  doubt  if 
its  use  in  any  of  the  capacities  named  has  ever  inspired  a  taste  for 
strong  drink. 

We  thank  you  for  the  evidences  of  your  sterling  character,  as 
manifested  by  your  letter,  and  hope  our  pleasant  relations  with  you 
will  continue  indefinitely.  It  is  always  a  genuine  inspiration  to  work 
for  and  with  anyone  who  is  square  with  everybody  and  everything. 

If  you  talk  like  a  grouchy  uncle,  your  business  letter  will 
sound  like  this : 

Why  don 't  you  ship  my  order  ?  If  you  don 't  want  to  sell  to  me,  I 
will  go  elsewhere  with  my  orders,  as  my  money  is  good  with  others  if 
it  isn't  with  you. 

If  by  writing  as  you  talk  you  mean  the  adoption  of  a 
simple  living  vocabulary  and  the  use  of  a  direct  forceful 
style,  the  injunction  is  a  good  one.  But  we  must  not  be 
garrulous,  or  repetitive,  or  slangy,  or  provincial,  or  brusque, 
or  vague  in  our  business  letters. 

3.  We  know,  however,  that  the  reaction  against  a  formal, 
dry,  fixed  style  in  business  letters  is  wholesome.  There 
are  scores  of  fossil  expression  that  have  hung  on  for  gen- 
erations in  letter- writing  and  that  should  be  discarded. 
The  following  are  some  of  them: 

advise  inst.,  prox.,  ult. 

as   per  same  (as  noun  or  pronoun) 

at  all  times  and  oblige 

at  hand  state  (for  simple  say) 

beg  esteemed  inquiry 

contents  carefully  noted  valued  inquiry 

enclosed  you  will  find                        enclosed  herewith 

esteemed  favor  earliest  possible  moment 

hand  you  by  return  mail 

in  due  course  your  letter  received 


210  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

Avoid  the  following  words  as  too  stiff  for  a  letter  and 
generally  meaningless:  herewith,  hereby,  thereto,  further- 
more, moreover,  inasmuch  as. 

The  following  is  such  a  letter  as  some  correspondents 
*' assemble"  from  the  junk-shop  of  language: 


Deab  Sir: 

We  beg  to  acknowledge  your  esteemed  favor  of  the  31st  ult. 
We  take  pleasure  in  handing  you  herewith  our  price-list  and  discount 
sheet  as  per  request,  and  trust  you  will  find  same  satisfactory. 

4.  The  idea  that  the  pronoun  I  is  to  be  renounced  utterly 
in  a  letter  is  a  mistaken  one.  It  must  have  grown  out  of  the 
warning  against  undue  egotism.  It  is  quite  proper  to  use 
this  word  whenever  it  is  needed  either  for  directness  or 
emphasis ;  it  may  even  appear,  if  need  be,  as  the  first  word 
of  your  letter. 

The  use  of  the  terms  the  writer  and  the  present  writer 
to  avoid  the  /  is  very  artificial. 

In  a  letter  sent  out  from  a  firm  or  corporation,  the  sin- 
gular pronoun  should  not  be  used. 

The  /-tone  is  objectionable  as  being  insincere,  when  it  is 
used  to  intimate  that  a  dealer  or  a  manager  or  anybody  else 
is  deeply  and  personally  concerned  in  the  experiences  of 
a  customer. 

I  want  you  to  have  the  first  chance  at  these  bargains. 
Send  your  order  direct  to  me. 

5.  It  may  be  that  it  is  the  effort  to  avoid  the  use  of  I  that 
has  created  a  fashion  of  leaving  out  all  subjects  of  verbs ;  or 
it  may  be  directly  due  to  the  desire  for  a  telegraphic  brevity. 
Whatever  may  be  the  explanation  of  it,  it  is  very  bad ;  as, 

Received  your  letter  and  have  begun  investigation  of  matter. 
Will  let  you  know  result  of  inquiry. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  211 

Equally  bad,  as  you  may  see,  is  the  omission  of  the 
articles,  a,  an,  the. 

6.  The  injunction  to  make  the  you  prominent  in  letters — 
particularly  sales-letters — is  unduly  emphasized  and  the 
practice  unduly  exaggerated  by  many  writers.  In  some 
cases  it  takes  the  crude  form  of  putting  the  pronoun  you 
in  screaming  capitals  or  even  in  red  ink ;  in  others  the  form 
of  protestation  of  unselfish  devotion  to  the  interest  of 
customers  that  can  not  fail  to  give  the  letter  a  ring  of 
insincerity.  The  proper  way  to  create  a  you-letter  is  to 
take  the  point  of  view  of  the  customer  as  nearly  as  you  can, 
and  then  give  him  the  information  he  needs  and  the 
opportunity  to  do  gladly  what  you  want  him  to  do. 

7.  The  tone  of  your  letter  must  be — 

a)  Sincere — the  truthfulness  of  its  statements  and  trust- 
worthiness of  its  purpose  must  be  apparent. 

h)  Cordial — ^by  the  use  of  a  little  dramatic  sympathy  all 
of  us  can  put  ourselves  in  some  measure  in  the  other  man 's 
place,  and  speak  as  we  should  like  to  be  spoken  to. 

c)  Dignified — ^not  formal,  not  '^ superior,"  but  self-re- 
specting and  serious.  No  correspondent  who  is  employed 
by  another  person,  or  who  is  still  building  his  own  business, 
should  ever  become  *  *  fresh ' '  or  witty,  or  even  jocular,  in  his 
business  letter. 

d)  Courteous — and  ever  more  courteous;  this  is  the  in- 
dispensable requirement  of  business  correspondence.  No 
young  letter- writer  should  ever  allow  himself  to  be  sarcastic ; 
he  should  leave  it  to  older  and  more  experienced  men  to  be 
severe. 

Exercise  3 

A  quiz  on  the  foregoing  general  requirements  of  the  body 
of  the  letter: 


212  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

1.  What  is  the  first  step  in  the  composition  of  a  letter  which  opens 
a  correspondence? 

2.  What  is  the  first  thing  you  do  when  you  reply  to  a  letter? 

3.  Describe  a  letter  in  which  you  may  have  to  give  more  para- 
graphs to  one  item  than  to  others. 

4.  Discuss  the  injunction  "Write  as  you  talk."  In  what  sense 
may  we  follow  it? 

5.  Give  a  list  of  the  conventional  words  and  phrases  we  should 
avoid. 

6.  Discuss  the  use  of  the  pronoun  /  in  business  letters.  Does  the 
mere  use  of  this  word  make  an  /-letter?  What  constitutes  an  oflfen- 
sive  /-letter? 

7.  Discuss  the  t/ow-letter.  Does  the  frequent  and  prominent  use 
of  the  word  you  create  a  i/ow-letter?    What  does? 

8.  Give  the  four  qualities  that  should  make  up  the  tone  of  a 
letter. 

3.  Letters  containing  inclosures. — Every  letter  writer 
should  be  familiar  with  the  common  forms  of  inclosure 
(written  often  enclosure).  If  the  inclosure  is  a  remittance, 
state  in  the  letter  the  exact  amount,  the  form  in  which  it  is 
sent — check,  draft,  or  money  order — and  how  it  is  to  be 
applied,  so  that  your  letter  may  be  a  link  in  the  complete 
chain  of  the  transaction.  In  addition  to  this  mention  of 
the  inclosure,  the  word  Inc.,  or  Incs,,  in  case  of  more  than 
one  inclosure,  should  appear  at  the  lower  left-hand  corner 
of  your  letter. 

Drafts,  checks,  postal  money  orders,  express  orders,  bills 
of  lading,  receipts,  etc.,  are  usually  folded  with  the  letter 
so  that  they  appear  when  the  letter  is  unfolded.  Stamps 
should  be  wrapped  in  oiled  paper — never  stuck  to  the  paper. 

No  remittance  should  be  made  without  a  letter  to 
explain  it. 

A  prompt  acknowledgment  of  a  remittance  must  be  made 
and  a  receipt  or  a  receipted  statement  inclosed  when  the 
occasion  requires  it.     In  this  acknowledgment  the  amount 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  213 

of  the  remittance  and  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  desig- 
nated by  the  sender,  should  be  mentioned. 
The  following  are  examples  of  such  letters : 

(Assume  heeding,  address,  and  signature;  See.  10,  Letter  2, 
ordering  goods.) 

1.  August  21,  19.... 

Gentlemen  : 

This  check  of  $175.85  is  in  payment  of  my  account  with  you,  due 
today. 

Yours  truly, 

Inc. 

2. 
Dear  Sir: 

Thank  you  for  the  check  of  $175.85  inclosed  in  your  letter  of 
August  21.  This  settles  your  account  in  full,  and  we  inclose 
receipted  statement. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Inc. 

The  following  is  an  example  of  a  careful  and  courteous 
acknowledgment.  It  is  from  the  office  of  the  White  Star 
Steamship  Company. 

Dear  Sir: 

This  will  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  yesterday 
with  inclosed  check  for  $30.00,  which,  we  note,  is  to  be  applied  as  a 
deposit  to  secure  the  reservation  of  Room  132  for  your  daughter 
and  Berth  1  in  Room  140  for  yourself  at  the  $53.75  rate. 

We  thank  you  very  much  for  this  deposit  and  will  ask  you  kindly 
to  send  us  the  full  name  of  your  daughter.  We  should  like  to  call 
your  attention  to  our  travelers'  checks  and  letters  of  credit. 

Yours  very  truly. 

Exercise  4 
Write  the  following  letters: 

1.  To  your  grocer,  sending  a  check  to  be  applied  on  your  account. 

2.  As  for  the  grocer,  acknowledge  the  remittance. 

3.  To  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  Garden  City,  Long  Island,  N.  Y., 


214  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

renewing  your  subscription  to  "The  World's  Work."     Inclose  postal 
money  order  for  $3.00. 

4.  Send  a  bank  draft  of  $36.00  to  LaSalle  Extension  University 
for  a  set  of  eight  volumes — "The  Art  of  Railroading." 

5.  Send  a  receipt  for  $15.85  to  a  customer  who  has  paid  his 
account  in  full  at  your  book  store. 

6.  Inclose  a  bill  of  lading  to  Elmer  E.  Turner,  Michigan  City, 
Indiana,  for  a  bill  of  goods  shipped  to  him  by  your  house  today. 

7.  As  for  the  persons  concerned,  acknowledge  the  remittances  in 
3  and  4,  above. 

4.  Form-letters. — The  correspondence  of  any  business 
house  covers  a  rather  well-defined  field,  no  matter  how  large. 
Even  in  a  very  complex  business  like  that  of  a  department 
store  or  of  a  mail-order  business,  the  division  into  depart- 
ments gives  each  manager  a  pretty  limited  range  of  matters 
to  handle.  The  larger  number  of  letters  handled  by  any 
given  business  correspondent  are  so  nearly  alike  that  the 
same  answer  may  be  sent  to  them.  After  sufficient  obser- 
vation, analysis,  and  summary  have  been  made  of  the 
correspondence  as  a  whole,  letters  that  will  apply  to  these 
standard  inquiries  are  carefully  composed,  designed  to 
cover  the  points  sure  to  arise. 

These  letters  are  form-letters.  They  are  filed,  and  when 
the  occasion  arises,  the  correspondent  directs  a  stenog- 
rapher to  copy  such-and-such  a  letter  and  send  it,  filling  in 
the  necessary  names  and  any  other  data  to  give  it  specific 
application. 

Or  more  often  still,  these  letters  are  reproduced  in  large 
numbers,  and  all  the  stenographer  has  to  do  is  to  write  in 
the  name  and  the  data,  if  any  are  needed. 

Many  form-letters  are  printed  by  a  process  that  imitates 
typewriting,  and  the  name  and  specific  details  are  written 
in  by  a  typist  to  match  the  body  of  the  letter. 

Some  correspondents,  having  learned  the  value  of  the 
paragraph  unit,  devise  form-paragraphs,  each  designed  to 


BUSINESS  ■  COMPOSITION  215 

cover  some  point  that  comes  up  again  and  again.  These 
paragraphs  are  filed  and  may  be  assembled  and  written  off 
by  a  typist,  creating  the  impression  of  a  freshly  dictated 
letter. 

Here  are  two  examples  of  these  '  *  assembled ' '  letters : 

1. 
Dear  Sir: 

Your  letter  of  the  16th  has  just  reached  us,  and  we  note  that  you 
have  received  only  part  of  your  order. 

Since  our  stock  of  No.  125-A  water  heaters  was  temporarily 
exhausted,  we  shipped  the  other  item  on  your  order  without  waiting 
to  receive  our  fresh  supply.  We  thought  you  would  want  us  to  do 
this  rather  than  delay  the  entire  shipment.  We  expect  to  have  our 
stock  replenished  in  a  few  days,  and  shall  take  pains  to  see  that 
your  order  is  filled  promptly. 

Your  address  has  been  changed  on  our  records  to  correspond  with 
the  directions  in  your  letter. 

We  have  given  this  matter  special  attention,  in  order  that  it  may 
cause  you  no  further  trouble. 

Yours    truly, 

You  will  notice  that  there  are  only  two  details  there 
to  be  written  in — the  date  and  the  specific  article  by  its 
catalogue  number. 

2. 
Dear  Sir: 

Your  letter  of  July  25  has  just  reached  us,  and  we  want  to  say 
frankly  that  we  owe  you  an  apology. 

The  mistake  was  due  to  an  entry  error  in  our  order  department. 
Our  shipping  clerk  has  received  instructions  to  assemble  a  new  ship- 
ment at  once,  and  we  have  taken  special  pains  to  see  that  it  is 
correct  in  every  detail.  We  ask  you  to  return  the  incorrect  shipment 
to  us  at  our  expense. 

We  will  do  everything  in  our  power  to  see  that  such  a  mistake 
does  not  happen  again. 

We  are  correcting  the  mistake  today. 

Yours  truly, 


216  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

You  will  notice  that  they  sound  quite  like  real  letters — 
and  are,  indeed,  better  than  an  ordinary  correspondent 
could  possibly  dictate  every  day. 

Perhaps  you  have  seen  that  deplorable  scheme  for  saving 
time  and  money,  adopted  by  a  few  business  houses — the 
scheme  of  merely  fastening  together  with  a  clip  certain 
form-paragraphs  and  sending  them  otherwise  unconnected. 
These,  also,  are  outside  the  field  of  English,  since  there  is 
no  grammatical  precedent  for  the  wire  clip  as  a  conjunction. 

The  same  laws  govern  the  composition  of  a  form-letter  as 
of  any  other  letter  or  piece  of  business  composition.  It 
should  display  clearness,  effectiveness,  and  courtesy.  It 
should  be  adapted  to  the  persons  to  whom  it  is  sent,  being 
made  as  personal  and  human  as  sincerity  permits.  You 
would  not  send  the  same  form  to  Christopher  &  North, 
exclusive  grocers  and  wine  merchants,  195  S.  Michigan 
Ave.,  that  you  would  send  to  Gleason  Brothers,  groceries 
and  general  merchandise.  Three  Oaks,  Wis.  But  the  two 
letters  should  be  equally  courteous,  clear,  and  effective.  The 
devising  of  form-letters  is  now  a  business,  a  profession,  and 
an  art.  Any  business  man  can  learn  to  devise  form-letters. 
But  some  form-letters  are  like  poems — ^they  are  works  of 
imagination  and  genius. 

5.  The  typewritten  letter. — 1.  The  person  who  type- 
writes a  letter  should  learn,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  estimate 
the  amount  of  material  he  will  have  so  as  to  place  it  attract- 
ively on  the  page.  All  letters  are  written  on  the  same 
letter-head;  so  naturally  a  short  letter  should  have  much 
wider  margins  on  all  sides  than  a  long  one  can  have.  It 
will  make  a  much  more  attractive  appearance  if  it  is  ''cen- 
tered'* in  a  compact  form  on  the  sheet  than  if  it  is  spread 
out  in  two  or  three  lines  across  the  whole  sheet.  This 
judgment  is  difficult  for  a  typist  who  takes  dictation  on 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  217 

the  typewriter.     The  dictator  in  this  case  must  warn  the 
typist  as  to  the  length  of  his  letter. 

2.  If  the  letter  is  long,  leave  generous  margins,  and  use 
a  second  sheet.  Nothing  is  so  disheartening  as  a  page  packed 
from  edge  to  edge  with  stony,  single-spaced  text ;  the  read- 
ing of  it  seems  a  physical  impossibility. 

3.  Second  sheets  are  the  same  paper  as  the  letter-heads, 
without  printed  or  engraved  heading.  The  name  or  initials 
of  the  person  addressed  are  placed  near  the  upper  left-hand 
margin  of  the  second  and  of  every  subsequent  sheet,  fol- 
lowed by  the  number  of  the  page ;  as,  plm — 2. 

4.  No  matter  how  long  your  letter,  always  leave  a  margin 
of  at  least  one  inch  left  and  right.  The  left-hand  margin 
should  be  perfectly  regular,  the  right-hand  margin  as  reg- 
ular as  possible.  A  typist  should  master  the  rules  of  hy- 
phenating so  that  she  need  never  evade  the  division  of  a 
word.  She  will  then  avoid  that  jagged  right  edge  that  so 
disfigures  a  letter. 

5.  Develop  a  sense  of  the  paragraph.  If  you  are  com- 
posing on  a  typewriter,  it  is  no  more  difficult  to  paragraph 
than  if  you  are  writing  with  your  pen.  But  a  typist  tak- 
ing dictation  must  learn  to  be  quick  to  see,  without  being 
told,  v/hen  a  new  aspect  of  the  letter  is  taken  up,  so  as 
to  call  for  a  new  paragraph. 

In  business  letter-writing  you  have  to  relax  a  little  the 
rules  for  paragraphing,  and  allow  a  typist  to  break  up  the 
matter  into  smaller  sections  for  the  sake  of  the  beauty  of 
the  page,  and  the  conservation  of  the  reader's  attention 
and  eyesight.  But  these  breaks  must  not  be  quite  arbi- 
trary.   An  expert  typist  develops  a  sense  for  these  divisions. 

6.  Arrange  so  as  not  to  begin  a  paragraph  at  the  bottom 
of  a  page  unless  you  have  room  for  at  least  three  lines. 
Manage  so  that  you  will  not  have  a  single  line  or  a  few 
words  to  carry  over  to  a  new  page. 


218  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

7.  The  opening  sentence  of  a  letter  should  be  indented 
five  spaces  from  the  margin.  Every  paragraph  should 
have  precisely  the  same  indention. 

8.  As  little  erasing  as  possible  should  be  done ;  one  letter 
should  never  be  written  over  another. 

9.  Quoted  matter  looks  well  indented  from  both  sides. 

10.  Lists  should  be  indented  and  tabulated. 

11.  At  the  bottom  of  the  letter  at  the  left  margin  should 
be  placed  the  initials  of  the  person  dictating  the  letter  and 
the  initials  of  the  stenographer ;  as  plm — hc. 

12.  Below  these  initials  should  be  written  Inc.  if  one 
inclosure  is  to  be  made ;  if  more  than  one,  write  Incs.  with 
the  number  of  inclosures  indicated;  as,  Incs. — 2. 

13.  Mistakes  in  spelling  are  unpardonable.  Any  typist 
can  master  the  list  of  words  used  in  a  given  business. 

14.  Typewriting  is  a  kind  of  printing,  and  every  typist  will 
learn  much  by  studying  the  details  of  a  well-printed  page. 

6.  Letters  of  application. — The  letter  of  application  is 
the  most  important  document  that  a  young  person  in  busi- 
ness will  have  to  write.  He  must  regard  it  as  his  oppor- 
tunity to  bring  himself  to  the  notice  of  business  men.  He 
should  be  willing  to  take  any  amount  of  pains  to  make  his 
letter  represent  his  best  self,  and  secure  the  attention  and 
interest  of  the  reader.  The  following  formidable-looking 
list  contains  the  simple  Do's  and  DonH's  of  the  letter  of 
application : 

1.  Use  plain,  white,  unruled  paper,  full-size  sheets,  writ- 
ing on  one  side  only.    Use  envelopes  to  fit. 

2.  Be  sure  that  paper  and  envelopes  are  clean.  Send  no 
letter  with  erasures  or  blots. 

3.  Typewrite  your  letter,  if  possible.  Do  not,  of  course, 
typewrite  your  signature.  If  advisable,  send  a  specimen  of 
your  handwriting  as  an  inclosure. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  219 

4r.  Apply  as  promptly  as  possible  for  an  advertised 
position. 

5.  Write  frankly  and  modestly,  without  boasting,  but 
without  self -depreciation.  Express  no  doubt  or  uncertainty 
as  to  your  ability  to  do  the  work  you  are  asking  for. 

6.  If  you  are  answering  an  advertisement,  attend  in  order 
to  all  the  points  mentioned  in  the  advertisement.  In  any 
event  state  your  preparation;  your  age;  your  experience; 
your  references;  whether  you  are  married  or  single;  and, 
if  you  are  asked  to  do  so,  the  salary  you  expect. 

a)  Your  preparation  includes  the  school  you  attended 
and  the  courses  taken  that  bear  on  the  work  you  are  asking 
for. 

h)  You  should  give  with  some  fullness  your  previous 
experience  in  business — what  you  have  done  and  for  whom 
you  have  done  it.  It  is  always  a  good  thing  to  give  a  former 
employer  or  associate  as  a  reference.  It  is  sometimes  well 
to  say  why  you  are  leaving  your  present  position. 

c)  In  some  employments  the  question  of  age  is  impor- 
tant.   It  is  always  well  to  state  it. 

d)  Never  give  a  person  as  a  reference  until  you  have 
asked  for  and  secured  his  permission.  If  possible  give  the 
name  of  someone  you  have  had  business  experience  with — 
of  a  former  employer,  of  your  instructor  in  the  courses  you 
have  taken,  of  some  friend  who  can  speak  for  your  char- 
acter. Give  always  the  full  names  and  addresses  of  your 
references. 

e)  li  you  have  general  letters  of  recommendation,  inclose 
fresh,  neat  copies,  marked  at  top  or  bottom  ' '  Copy. ' ' 

f)  If  you  are  so  young  as  to  be  obviously  single,  say 
nothing  on  that  point.  If  older,  say  whether  you  are  mar- 
ried or  single. 

g)  If  the  advertisement  asks  you  to  name  a  salary,  say 
in  plain  figures  the  least  you  will  take ;  never  say  *  *  moderate  *  * 


220  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

salary — that  is  meaningless;  never  say  ''salary  no  object" 
— that  is  unbusiness-like  and  probably  insincere.  Consider, 
when  you  name  a  salary,  your  ability  and  experience  and 
the  salaries  paid  in  your  locality. 

The  following  are  examples  of  letters  of  application : 

1438  West  Madison  Steeet 

Chicago,  III. 

April  21,  19 

X   467  Tribune 

Chicago 
Dear  Sir: 

I  should  like  to  apply  for  the  position  of  office-boy  advertised 
by  you  in  today's  "Tribune."  I  am  fourteen  years  old  and  live  with  my 
parents  at  the  number  given  above.  I  refer  you  to  Mr.  Julian  H. 
Lewis,  96  West  Eandolph  Street.  I  inclose  a  copy  of  a  letter 
from  him. 

Yours  truly, 

Robert  Patterson 

6304  University   Avenue 

Chicago,  III. 
September  14,  19 ... . 

H  911  Herald 

Chicago 
Dear  Sir: 

This  is  in  answer  to  your  advertisement  in  this  morning's  Herald. 

I  am  a  graduate  of  High  School  and  of  Business 

College,  where  I  had  a  course  in  office  practice. 

In  this  college  the  conditions  of  a  business  office  are  dupli- 
cated as  nearly  as  possible.  So,  while  I  have  had  no  experience,  I 
can  write  a  business  letter,  correctly  arranged,  capitalized,  spelled,  and 
punctuated;  file  a  letter;  find  a  letter  already  filed;  use  the  mimeo- 
graph or  other  duplicating  devices;  make  out  bills  and  statements; 
and  meet  callers.  I  know  the  nature  and  use  of  drafts,  checks, 
receipts,   invoices,   statements,   etc. 

I  am  twenty-four  years  of  age  and  live  at  home. 

I  should  be  glad  to  call  at  your  office  at  your  convenience. 

Yours  truly, 
(Miss)   Lucy  R.  Meade 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  221 

1329  Aesenal  Street 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 

January  14,  19 ... . 
Messrs.  Holt  ^  Eaton 

214  West  Monroe  Street 
Chicago,   III. 
Gentlemen  : 

I  have  learned  through  raj  friend,  Mr.  William  A.  Gordon,  whom 
you  know,  that  you  are  looking  for  an  assistant  bookkeeper.  I  should 
like  to  be  considered  a  candidate  for  the  place. 

I  am  a  graduate  of  the  School  of  Commerce  of  the  University 
of  Wisconsin.  For  two  years  I  have  been  assistant  bookkeeper  for 
Shortall  &  Sturgis,  125  Pennsylvania  Street,  Indianapolis.  I  have 
their  permission  to  refer  to  them.  I  am  also  at  liberty  to  refer  you 
to  Professor  Frederick  Clarke,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  who 
can  speak  of  my  work  as  a  student. 

I  am  twenty-four  years  of  age  and  unmarried. 
Assuring  you  that  if  I   am   chosen,   I   shall  endeavor  to  make 
my  work  satisfactory,  I  am 

Very  truly  yours, 

Charles  W.  Gale 

7.  The  following  is  a  suggestion  for  a  letter  applying  to 
a  well-known  house  for  a  position  not  advertised : 

387  Northfield  Ave. 

Pittsburg,  Pa. 

January  14,  19 ... . 
Mr.  John  Wanammker 

Philadelphia,  Fa. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  am  a  stenographer  and  want  to  improve  my  position.  I  am 
writing  to  you  because  I  feel  that  my  services  would  be  valuable  in 
your  house.     I  have  the  following  qualifications: 

1.  Rapidity  and  accuracy  in  taking  notes  and  in  typing.    I 
have  a  record  of  110  words. 

2.  Knowledge    of    the   requirements   of   the   position   in    a 
large  office. 

3.  Enthusiasm  for  my  work  and  a  desire  to  give  complete 
satisfaction. 

My  preparation  and  experience  consist  of  (assume  details). 


222  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

I  inclose  copies  of  letters  of  recommendation  and  the  names 
of  references. 

If  you  have  a  vacancy  at  present,  I  desire  to  apply  for  it.  If 
not,  will  you  file  my  application  for  future  use? 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Miss)  Mary  A.  Logan 

If  you  are  engaged  for  a  position  of  trust,  especially  if 
money  is  to  be  handled,  you  may  be  required  to  give  se- 
curity. You  may  get  two  property  owners  to  act  as  bonds- 
men ;  or  you  may  apply  to  a  bond  and  reference  association, 
which  after  investigating  your  ability,  honesty,  habits,  etc., 
will  act  as  your  bondsman. 

8.  The  following  represents  still  another  type  of  letter  of 
application : 

(Assume  heading  and  address.) 
Gentlemen  : 

I  have  learned  that  you  are  planning  a  large  extension  of  your 
business  in  the  Latin-American  countries.  I  should  like  to  serve  you 
in  that  extension. 

I  have  had  ten  years'  experience  as  a  salesman  in  South  Ameri- 
can countries.  (Give  details.)  I  have  a  thorough  speaking  and  writ- 
ing knowledge  of  Spanish. 

I  am  thirty-two  years  of  age  and  married. 

I  shall  be  glad  to  make  known  the  reason  for  my  desire  for  a 
change  of  position.  I  can  give  thoroughly  satisfactory  references 
and  bond,  if  necessary.    I  should  appreciate  the  favor  of  an  interview. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Henry  Ransom 

Exercise  5 

Using  your  own  address  as  heading,  answer  the  following 
advertisements : 

1.  BOY— OFFICE,  BRIGHT,  ENERGETIC,  15  TO  18, 
by  Board  of   Trade  firm;    permanent  and  advance- 
ment   to    right    party.       Answer   fully,    giving    tele- 
phone,   age,    and    education.      Address    O    W    430, 
Tribune. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  223 

2.  ADVERTISING  COPY  WEITERS— COERESPOND- 

ence  desired  with  experienced  advertising  agency 
copy  writers  who  would  consider  positions  in  copy 
department  of  Middle  West  advertising  agency  about 
Sept.  1.  State  age,  experience,  and  salary  expected. 
Address  D  D.  23,  Tribune. 

3.  BOOKKEEPER— ASSISTANT,     AND     COMPETENT 

stenographer,  in  West  Side  office;  salary  at  first  $12 
per  week;  prospects  for  advancement  good  for  ambi- 
tious young  man;  references.  Address  L  D  102, 
Tribune. 

4.  STENOGRAPHER— ONE       WITH       iilXPERIENCE 

in  auto  supply  business  preferred;  living  on  So. 
Side;  salary  to  start  $8.  Permanent;  rapid  promo- 
tion assured.     Address  0  N  527,  Tribune. 

5.  WANTED— MILWAUKEE         BRANCH         OFFICE 

manager  and  salesman;  long  established  merchandise 
brokerage;  good  salary;  splendid  ppportunity;  state 
references  and  experience.  Address  O  T  547, 
Tribune. 

6.  ADVERTISING  WRITER— TO   STUDY   PRODUCT 

and  organization  and  write  copy  for  catalogues, 
booklets,  house  organ,  and  general  sales  promotion 
literature;  prefer  a  man  acquainted  with  business  sys- 
tems. BAKER- VAWTER  COMPANY, 

Benton   Harbor,  Mich. 

7.  You  have  heard  that  Jordan  &  Marsh,  Boston,  will  need  extra 
help  during  the  summer,  while  members  of  their  regular  force  are 
on  their  vacations.    Write  an  application. 

8.  Apply  for  a  position  as  instructor  in  mathematics  in  a  tech- 
nical high  school. 

9.  As  an  employer,  or  for  your  employer,  answer  the  following 
advertisements.  Ask  the  applicant  in  the  first  to  call;  in  the  second 
to  telephone: 

1.  SITUATION       WANTED— ON       ACCOUNT       OF 
closing    Chicago    office,    unusually    efficient    stenog. 


224  ESSENTIALS  OP  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

will  be  out  of  employment  in  a  few  days ;  exp.  in  engi- 
neering, arch.,  scientific  and  tech-dictation;  will  accept 
$20  per  week  until  work  has  demonstrated  capabilities 
worthy  of  more  remuneration.  Address  K  172, 
Tribune. 

2.  SITUATION   WANTED— YOUNG    MAN    STENOG- 
rapher  or  private  secretary,  experienced,  24,  H.   S. 
graduate,    knowledge   German,    French,   and    Spanish; 
Al  references.  Address  L  501,  Tribune. 

Note. — The  instructor  should  substitute  for  these  exercises,  or  add 
to  them,  others,  according  to  the  needs  and  experiences  of  his  class. 
He  should  give  every  member  of  the  class  a  classified  advertisement 
to  answer,  adapted  to  the  student's  experience  and  expectations. 

7.  Letters  of  recommendation. — These  are  of  two  kinds 
— personal  and  generaL  A  personal  letter  of  recommenda- 
tion is  addressed  to  some  firm  or  individual  to  whom  the 
writer  is  commending  a  candidate  for  a  specific  position. 
This  is  most  often  written  directly  to  the  firm  or  person 
addressed. 

A  general  letter  of  recommendation  is  really  a  testimonial ; 
it  opens  with  the  phrase  * '  To  whom  it  may  concern. ' '  This 
kind  of  letter  is  given  to  the  candidate  himself  to  be  used 
as  he  sees  fit ;  he  keeps  the  original  and  sends  a  copy  with 
his  application ;  this  copy  should  always  be  fresh  and  clean, 
and  should  be  marked  ' '  Copy. ' ' 

The  personal  letter  is,  of  course,  mOre  effective,  but  also 
more  difficult  to  write.  It  should  be  asked  for  with  great 
modesty  and  received  with  real  appreciation. 

The  letter  of  recommendation  should  mean  all  that  it  says. 
Undue  praise  hurts  everybody  concerned.  Of  course,  if 
one  consents  to  recommend  an  applicant,  he  must  mention 
the  good  and  affirmative  points. 

The  following  is  a  general  letter  of  recommendation : 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  225 

96  West  Eandolph  St. 

Chicago,    III. 
To  Whom  It  May  Concern: 

I  have  known  the  bearer,  Kobert  Patterson,  for  several  years  and 
am  well  acquainted  with  his  parents.  I  have  every  reason  to  con- 
sider him  a  young  man  of  ability,  of  honorable  principles,  and  of 
good  habits.  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  recommending  him  for  office 
work.  Yours   truly, 

Julian  H.  Lewis 

The  following  is  a  personal  letter  of  recommendation : 

967  WiNTHROP  Ave. 

Madison,  Wis. 

Jan.  14,  19 

Messrs.  Holt  4'  Eaton 

214  W.  Monroe  Street 
Chicago,  III. 
Gentlemen  : 

In  reply  to  your  request  for  information  concerning  Mr.  Charles 
W.  Gale,  who  is  applying  for  the  position  of  assistant  bookkeeper  in 
your  business,  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  recommending  him  most  cor- 
dially for  this  position.  As  a  student  in  my  classes  he  was  eager, 
conscientious,  and  efficient.  You  will  make  no  mistake  in  engaging 
him. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Frederick  Clarke 


8.  Letters  of  introduction. — These  are  used  to  introduce 
two  of  your  acquaintances  to  each  other.  These  letters 
should  not  be  asked  for  or  given  carelessly,  because  every- 
body feels  that  they  carry  business  and  social  obligations. 
A  letter  of  introduction  should  be  short,  stating  the  reason 
for  the  introduction.  The  business  letter  of  introduction 
is  left  unsealed  and  given  to  the  person  introduced.  The 
words  Introducing  Mr. are  written  in  the  lower  left- 
hand  comer  of  the  envelope. 


226  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

The  following  is  an  example  of  a  letter  of  introduction : 

(Assume  heading,  address,  salutation,  and  signature.) 

This  will  introduce  to  you  my  friend,  Mr.  William  Hoyt,  who  is 

visiting  your  city  with  a  view  to  going  into  business  there. 

He  is  a  wide-awake,  sound  business  man  and  will  be  an  accession 

to  any  community  and  any  business.     Any  attention  that  you  may 

show  him  will  be  appreciated  by  him,  and  will  be  a  personal  favor 

to  me. 

Sincerely  yours, 


Exercise  6 

Write  the  following  general  letters  of  recommendation, 
or  introduction,  as  you  think  best : 

1.  For  John  Edwards,  who  is  just  graduated  from  a  commercial 
high  school  and  who  wishes  to  begin  in  a  bank. 

2.  For  Mr.  Charles  Winthrop,  your  bookkeeper,  who  for  family 
reasons  is  moving  to  Boston. 

3.  For  Miss  Lucy  E.  Meade,  an  expert  office  assistant,  who  is 
looking  for  a  larger  opening  in  San  Francisco. 

4.  For  Miss  Mary  A.  Logan,  who  has  had  two  years  in  a  com- 
mercial high  school,  and  who  wishes  to  begin  as  a  typist. 

9.  Letters  of  inquiry  and  reply. — In  the  first  place,  be 
sure  that  it  is  really  necessary  to  make  the  inquiry.  Do  all 
in  your  power  to  find  out  for  yourself  what  you  want  to 
know.  When  you  write  a  letter  of  inquiry,  go  straight  to 
your  point.  Give  clear  and  full  detail  as  to  the  thing  you 
want  to  know.  If  your  inquiry  has  several  items  or  details, 
open  them  out  and  arrange  them  in  order,  so  that  they  may 
be  quickly  grasped.  An  inquiry  preliminary  to  a  possible 
purchase  needs  no  apology  and  no  return  postage. 

The  reply  to  a  letter  of  inquiry  should  take  up  in  detail 
the  items  of  the  inquiry  and  answer  the  questions  directly 
and  specifically.  The  following  letters  are  offered  as  good 
examples  of  the  detailed  letter  of  inquiry  and  the  specific 
reply : 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  227 

Lakeville,  Cedar  Co.,  Mo.    • 

July  2,  19 

Messrs.  Marlow,  Hardy  4"  Co.  - 

29  Lombard  Street 

Chicago,  Illinois 
Gentlemen  : 

I  desire  to  secure  furnishings  for  a  small  country  house. 
Will  you  please  send  me  samples  of  inexpensive  white  curtain 
materials  for  bedrooms,  and  of  some  fabric  suitable  for  southern 
windows  in  a  living-room?  I  wish  some  strong,  simple,  comfortable 
dining-room  chairs.  Will  you  suggest  some  suitable  inexpensive  style 
of  porch' furniture?  If  you  publish  a  catalogue,  I  should  be  glad 
to  have  you  send  me  one.  What  do  you  advise  in  place  of  the  old- 
fashioned  kitchen  stove? 

Sincerely  yours, 
(:Mrs.  a.  C.)   Mary  R.  Morris 

(Assume  heading  and  date.) 
Mrs.  A.  C.  Morris 
Lakeville 

Cedar  Co.,  Missouri 
Dear  Madam: 

For  your  living-room  we  suggest  sundour.  It  washes  well  and 
does  not  fade  in  the  sunlight.  It  comes  in  very  soft  shades  in  all 
colors.  It  varies  in  thickness,  some  of  it  being  as  thin  as  raw  silk 
and  some  of  it  quite  substantial.  It  is  54  inches  wide  and  costs 
from  $1.00  to  $1.50  a  yard.  We  have  a  good  hand-hemstitched  scrim 
curtain  in  white  or  ecru,  at  $2.00  a  pair. 

We  are  sending  cuts  of  dining-room  chairs.  You  will  notice  that 
we  advise  the  low-backed  chair,  as  it  makes  service  easier.  We  also 
recommend  wax  finish  instead  of  high  polish. 

For  the  porch  we  suggest  a  fibre  rug  in  two  tones  and  reed  chairs 
and  tables.  The  reed  furniture  is  a  little  more  expensive  than  wil- 
low, but  it  takes  a  better  stain  and  is  more  durable. 

We  do  not  carry  stoves,  but  you  would  probably  find  satis- 
faction in  the  blue-flame  oil-stove. 

We  shall  be  glad  to  discuss  details  further  with  you  if  you  favor 
us  with  your  order. 

Yours  truly, 

Marlow,  Hardy  &  Co. 
By  M. 


228  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

Certain  letters  of  inquiry  are  confidential,  asking  for  in- 
formation concerning  the  credit  or  standing  of  a  firm  or 
individual.  The  writer  of  such  a  letter  should  regard  him- 
self as  asking  a  favor,  and  should  show  a  courteous  realiza- 
tion of  this  fact,  and  should  send  return  postage. 

The  reply  to  such  a  letter  should  make  no  statement  that 
can  not  be  justified,  and  should  carefully  distinguish  be- 
tween opinion  and  fact.  If  the  report  is  unfavorable,  no 
names  should  be  mentioned  and  no  details  given  that  would 
identify  the  persons  reported  on,  to  any  person  other  than 
the  correspondent.  No  one  but  an  experienced  person 
should  undertake  the  reply  in  such  a  case. 

Exercise  7 

Using  your  own  address,  write  the  following  letters : 

1.  To  Sears,  Eoebuck  &  Co.,  Chicago,  asking  them  to  send  you 
their  general  mail-order  catalogue. 

2.  To  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Marshalltown,  Iowa,  asking  for 
publications  concerning  the  business  chances  in  that  city,  and  re- 
questing specific  information  as  to  opening  a  book-store  there. 

3.  To  the  Detroit  Blaugas  Company,  117  West  Huron  Street, 
Detroit,  concerning  the  equipping  of  a  summer  cottage  with  their 
gas  for  cooking  and  lighting. 

4.  To  the  National  Suit  Company,  New  York,  asking  for  cata- 
logue and  samples.  Specify  carefully  what  kind  of  goods  you 
want. 

5.  To  Marshall  Field  &  Co.,  Chicago,  asking  them  to  send  you 
samples  of  material  for  curtains  for  five  rooms.  Give  such  descrip- 
tion as  will  help  them  to  choose  the  samples  intelligently.  Ask  for 
suggestions. 

6.  To  Spaulding  &  Co.,  Chicago,  asking  information  in  detail 
concerning  sleeping-bags. 

7.  To  Eacine  Boat  Company,  87  No.  State  Street,  Chicago,  for 
information  concerning  their  canoes,  inquiring  if  it  is  possible  to  put 
a  gasoline  motor  into  certain  of  their  canoes.  Ask  for  suggestions 
as  to  the  motor. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  229 

8.  To  Orr  &  Lockett,  Chicago,  asking  for  catalogue  and  price- 
list  of  work-benches  and  tools  for  a  wood-working  room  in  a 
grammar  school. 

9.  To  the  law  department  of  LaSalle  Extension  University,  in- 
quiring whether  or  not  a  man's  estate  is  liable  for  damages  for 
libel,  even  though  the  libel  was  not  made  public  until  after  the 
man's  death.    Present  the  facts  and  ask  for  information. 

10.  To  the  First  National  Bank  of  Eockford,  111.,  for  informa- 
tion as  to  the  character  and  financial  standing  of  E.  O.  Hilton,  of 
Eockford. 

11.  To  the  Western  Electric  Company,  for  information  as  to 
their  inter-communicating  telephones  for  your  office  building. 

12.  To  the  Gum  Lumber  Manufacturing  Association,  asking  for 
samples  of  their  wood,  finished,  and  for  information  as  to  its  quali- 
ties as  an  interior  trim  for  a  bank  building. 

13.  To  The  Dells  Inn,  Kilbourn,  Wisconsin,  asking  terms  for  a 
party  of  five  for  a  stay  of  six  days. 

14.  To  White  Star  Steamship  Line,  New  York,  inquiring  as  to 
terms,  accommodations — first  and  second  class, — and  sailings  in  July 
from  Boston  to  Liverpool;  a  party  of  four. 

15.  To  a  florist,  asking  for  prices  on  two  styles  of  decoration  of  a 
room  for  a  class  supper  or  a  banquet  for  which  you  are  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  decoration.  Give  specifications  for  two  styles — 
one  inexpensive,  one  more  costly.    Ask  for  suggestions  from  him. 

Exercise  8 
Reply  to  the  following  letters: 

Barrington,  Wisconsin 

May    30,    19 

Messrs.  Butler,  Ward  4"  Co. 
Bush  Street  Bridge 
Chicago 
Gentlemen  : 

Please  send  me  your  catalogue  of  gas-lamps.  I  am  especially  in- 
terested in  a  drop-light. 

Yours  truly, 

Allen   Eobertson 
Say  you  are  sending  catalogue;  mention  the  pages  on  which  he 
will  find  drop-lights;  point  out  a  light  that  will  suit  a  library  and 
one    for    a    living-room;    call    attention    to    a    special    light    for    a 
dining-room.    Express  hope  that  he  will  purchase. 


230  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

2.  (Assume  heading.) 
National  Suit  Compa?iy 

New  YorJc. 
Gentlemen  ; 

Kindly  send  me  samples  of  goods  for  a  suit. 

Yours   truly, 

(Miss)  Mary  A.  Logan 
Ask  courteously  that  she  give  details  as  to  the  kind  of  suit  she 
wants — street   or   dress;    the  kind   of   fabric — ^linen,   wool,   silk;    the 
color;   approximate  price;   suggest  that  she  might  use  two  suits — a 
silk  and  a  wool.     Express  desire  to  please  her. 

3.  As  from  Marshall  Field  &  Co.,  write  a  reply  to  the  letter 
called  for  under  5,  Exercise  6. 

4.  As  from  the  florist,  write  a  reply  to  the  letter  called  for  under 
15,  Exercise  6.  Make  attractive  suggestions  for  a  third  style  of 
decoration,  not  quite  so  expensive  as  the  second  suggested  by  the 
inquiry. 

5.  As  from  the  Eacine  Boat  Company,  reply  to  the  letter  called 
for  under  7,  Exercise  6.  You  are  yourselves  prepared  to  furnish 
a  portable  motor  suitable  for  certain  types  of  canoes.  Give  details. 
Invite  further  inquiry,  and  visit  to  sales-room. 

Note. — The  instructor  should  vary  these  practice  exercises  to  suit 
the  needs  of  his  class,  and  add  to  them  if  he  finds  it  desirable. 

10.  Letters  ordering  goods. — In  letters  ordering  goods 
you  must  be  clear,  exact,  and  complete;  the  following  are 
some  of  the  Do's  and  Don't 's  that  will  help  you  to  that  end : 

1.  Give  a  tabulated  list  of  the  things  you  want — that  is, 
put  each  item  on  a  separate  line. 

2.  If  you  are  sending  a  small  order,  it  may  be  written  in 
your  letter.    If  it  is  large,  write  it  on  a  separate  sheet. 

3.  When  ordering  from  a  catalogue,  use  the  blanks  fur- 
nished for  orders.  Follow  carefully  the  directions  given  in 
all  catalogues ;  give  the  catalogue  number  for  each  item. 

4.  Qumitity,  quality,  size,  color,  style  or  shape  or  brand, 
price — these  are  the  important  things  to  specify.  If  fabrics 
are  ordered,  secure  and  send  samples. 

5.  Give  full  shipping  directions  if  possible — at  least  say 
whether  the  goods  are  to  be  sent  by  parcel  post,  express,  or 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  231 

freight.     If  possible,  specify  railroad  or  steamer  line  in 
case  of  freight. 

6.  If  you  desire  the  goods  in  a  hurry,  state  carefully  when 
you  want  them  and  the  reason  for  haste,  so  that  you  may 
be  taken  seriously  and  your  order  treated  as  a  ' '  rush  order. ' ' 

7.  Unless  you  are  an  old  and  well-known  customer  of  the 
house,  mention  the  manner  in  which  payment  is  made  or  to 
be  made.  If  you  enclose  a  cash  remittance,  mention  the 
amount  and  the  form  in  which  it  is  sent — postage  stamps, 
postal  money  order,  etc. 

The  following  are  examples  of  letters  ordering  goods : 

(Assume  heading  and  address.) 
Gentlemen  : 

Please  send  me  by  parcel  post: 

6  pr.  ladies'  black  No.  8  lisle-thread  Stockings  @  $.50 $3.00 

1  pr.  ladies'  dark  tan  kid,  3  clasp  Gloves,  No.  6^ 1.50 

1  pr.  ladies'  white  silk  Gloves,  12  button  length.  No.  6i^ 1.50 

6  pr.  ladies'  plain  hemstitched  Handkerchiefs  @  $.50 3.00 

I  inclose  express  money  order  for  $9.06,  which  covers  purchase 
and  postage. 

Yours  truly, 

(Miss)  Elizabeth  Dwyer 

Michigan  City,  Ind. 

July    15,    19.... 
Messrs.  Long  Brothers 
S47  Canal  Street 
Chicago,  III. 
Gentlemen  : 

I  must  ask  your  immediate  attention  to  the  inclosed  order.  I 
have  been  away  from  home  on  a  vacation  and  on  my  return  found 
my  stock  of  these  articles  very  low. 

I  am  especially  anxious  to  have  the  flour  sent  promptly,  to  reach 
me  before  Saturday.  Ship  by  Michigan  Central  Eailroad,  on  account 
60  days. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Elmer  E.  Turner 

8.  An  order  should  be  acknowledged  at  once.    This  ac- 


232  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

knowledgment  should  express  pleasure;  refer  to  the  order 
by  date,  and  mention  any  special  conditions  or  instructions 
it  contained;  say  when  the  order  will  be  shipped  or  was 
shipped;  perhaps  give  a  suggestion  for  a  further  order; 
acknowledge  any  remittance  made,  giving  details. 

1.  Acknowledging  the  first  order  above : 

(Assume  heading,  address,  and  signature.) 
Dear  Madam: 

Accept  our  thanks  for  your  order  of  March  15,  inclosing  express 
money  order  for  $9.00. 

The  goods  have  been  shipped  today  by  parcel  post  as  you  directed, 
and  we  trust  they  will  prove  satisfactory. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Inc. 

The  inclosure  might  be  a  circular  announcing  a  sale  of 
silk  stockings,  or  some  other  article  attractive  to  ladies. 

2.  Acknowledging  the  second  order  above. 

(Assume  heading,  address,  and  signature.) 
Dear  Sir: 

Your  order  of  July  15  came  this  morning.  We  are  putting  it 
through  as  a  rush  order,  and  it  will  be  shipped  tomorrow.  You  may 
depend  on  it  that  not  only  the  flour  but  the  whole  order  will  reach 
you  for  Saturday.  We  inclose  invoice.  The  goods  will  be  shipped 
by  Michigan  Central,  as  you  request. 

You  will  probably  be  interested  in  the  special  price  list  of  canned 
fruits  that  we  are  inclosing.  We  should  be  very  much  pleased  to 
book  your  order  for  them. 

Very  truly  yours, 

IDvCS.  2 

Exercise  9 
Using  your  own  name  and  address  and  choosing  the  busi- 
ness houses  for  yourself,  write  the  following  orders : 

1.  A  large  Crex  rug  and  two  reed  chairs  for  your  porch. 

2.  Twenty  work-benches  for  a  wood-working  room  for  the  sixth 
grade. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  233 

3.  On  May  15,  a  ton  of  coal. 
On  December  15,  a  ton  of  coal. 
^,    4.  Twenty  articles  selected  from  a  mail-order  catalogue. 

5.  A  list  of  groceries  of  twelve  items  from  a  wholesale  house  for 
your  store  in  a  small  town. 

6.  Tickets  for  four  persons  on  the  White  Star  steamer     "Arabic," 
Boston  to  Liverpool,  June  16. 

7.  Six  automobile  specialties  for  your  Ford  automobile. 

8.  Two  dozen  dustless  chalk  erasers  for  your  school-room. 

9.  A  list  of  groceries  for  your  camp  in  the  woods,  where  you  are 
to  spend  a  month  with  two  friends. 


Exercise  10 

Acknowledge   in   good   form   the   orders  of  the   letters 
called  for  in  Exercise  8. 

Note. — As  in  previous  exercises,  the  instructor  may  add  or  sub- 
stitute orders  which  suit  his  needs. 

11.  Letters  asking  and  granting  favors. — Those  letters 
asking  favors  should  be  characterized  by  directness  and 
frankness.  State  your  request  in  the  beginning  of  your 
letter  and  give  whatever  explanations  will  justify  it.  Such 
letters  should  not  be  too  humble  and  apologetic  (if  you 
really  feel  troublesome  or  unworthy,  don't  dare  to  ask  the 
favor),  but  should  be  grateful  and  appreciative  in  tone. 
The  following  are  examples  of  letters  asking  favors  or  spe- 
cial consideration : 

1.  5728  University  Avenue, 

Chicago,   III., 

July    14,    19 

Messrs.  Beech  4"  BecJc,  Publishers, 
41  Beacon  Square, 

Boston,   Mass. 
Gentlemen  : 

I  should  like  your  permission  to  use  in  a  text-book  I  am  pre- 
paring for  high-school  students,  as  models  of  paragraph  structure,  a 
few  passages  from  Pinchot's    "Social    Control."      I  shall  be  happy 


234  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

to  give  due  credit.     I  should  like  to  congratulate  vou  on  publishing 
so  wise  and  helpful  a  book. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Edward  O.  Warren 

2.  (Assume  the  same  heading,  address,  and  signature  as  in  1, 
above.) 

Gentlemen  : 

I  should  like  your  permission  to  reproduce  as  a  pamphlet  in  a 
series  I  am  issuing  on  public  questions,  for  use  in  my  classes.  Chap- 
ter X  of  Pinchot  's  ' '  Social  Control. ' '  I  should,  of  course,  make  due 
acknowledgment. 

Yours  very  truly, 

3.  (Assume  heading,   address,   and   signature.) 
Gentlemen  : 

The  white  muslin  dress  (F  144)  that  I  ordered  from  you  April 
15  has  reached  me,  but  proves  to  be  too  small  for  my  daughter,  for 
whom  I  ordered  it.  I  did  not  realize  when  I  ordered  it  that  she  had 
grown  a  great  deal  recently.  I  should  like  to  exchange  it  for  the 
same  thing  in  a  larger  size. 

Yours  truly, 

The  reply  to  such  letters  should  be  courteous  and  as  con- 
siderate as  possible.  If  the  favors  are  to  be  granted,  let  it 
be  done  as  cordially  and  as  generously  as  is  consistent  with 
the  policy  and  interest  of  the  people  you  represent. 

The  following  are  replies  to  the  letters  given  above: 

(Assume  heading,  address,  and  signature  in  each  case.) 

1. 
Dear  Sir: 

Your  letter  of  March  16,  requesting  permission  to  use  a  few  pas- 
sages from  Pinchot 's    "Social    Control,"    has  been  duly  considered. 

If  you  will  give  the  usual  credit  to  book,  author,  and  publisher, 
either  in  your  preface  or  in  your  introduction,  we  will  most  cordially 
grant  the  permission  you  ask. 

Very  truly  yours, 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  235 


Dear  Sir: 

Your  letter  of  March  16,  asking  permission  to  reproduce  as  a 
pamphlet  Chapter  X  of  Pinchot  's  ' '  Social  Control, ' '  has  been  duly 
considered. 

Since  that  chapter  contains  so  much  that  is  essential  and  central 
in  the  book,  we  can  not,  we  regret  to  say,  in  justice  either  to  our- 
selves or  the  author,  permit  such  use  of  the  material. 

Very  truly  yours, 

3. 
My  dear  Madam: 

We  shall  be  very  glad  to  exchange  the  white  dress  (F  144)  which 
proved  too  small  for  your  daughter,  for  the  same  number  one  size 
larger.  You  will  find  full  directions  for  the  return  of  goods  on  page 
49  of  our  catalogue.  Immediately  upon  receipt  of  the  dress,  we  will 
forward  the  larger  garment. 

Very  truly  yours. 

Exercise  11 

Write  the  following  letters : 

1.  You  have  been  ill,  and  absent  from  the  business  college  in 
which  you  are  registered,  for  six  weeks.  Write  to  the  principal  re- 
questing that  your  tuition  for  the  six  weeks  be  credited  to  you. 

2.  Keply  to  this  letter,  granting  the  request. 

3.  Write  to  "System,"  asking  permission  to  reprint  in  pamphlet 
form  an  article  published  in  that  magazine. 

4.  Write  a  reply,  as  from  the  editor  of  "System,"  stating  the 
conditions  upon  which  permission  is  given. 

5.  Write  to  John  Wanamaker,  Philadelphia,  asking  for  a  discount 
for  cash  on  an  order  of  six  dozen  table  napkins. 

6.  As  from  John  Wanamaker,  reply,  explaining  that  you  cannot 
allow  discount  on  so  small  a  lot  of  merchandise. 

12.  Letters  of  complaint  and  adjustment. — ^Don't  you 

think  that  we  are  all  entitled  to  a  moment  of  ''comic  relief 
at  this  point  in  our  long  chapter  ?  What  would  you  do  with 
the  following  letter  of  complaint  which  was  reproduced  in 
the  ''LaSalle  Extension  Magazine"? 


236  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

Mister  Sallie  house  Sanfrisco. 

Dear  Fren;  I  got  the  Valva  which  i  by  from  you  alrite  but  why 
for  god's  sake  you  doan  sen  me  no  handle,  wat  the  use  the  valva 
when  she  doan  have  no  handle.  I  loose  to  my  customer  sureting, 
you  doan  treet  me  rite,  is  my  money  not  so  good  to  you  as  the  otha 
fella.  I  wate  ten  days  and  my  customer  he  holla  for  the  valva. 
you  no  he  is  hot  summer  and  the  win  he  no  blow  the  weel.  you  doan 
send  me  the  handel  pretty  queek  I  sen  her  back  and  I  order  some 
valva  from  kraine  Co.  Good  by 

YOUR  Fren. 

since  I  rite  these  i  find  the  handle  in  the  box.    Excuse  to  me. 

There  are  very  few  customers  so  versatile  as  this  charming 
Italian  correspondent  (who  from  the  postscript  may  be 
judged  to  have  a  drop  of  Irish  blood  in  his  veins)  who  makes 
ind  adjusts  his  own  complaint  in  the  same  letter. 

The  following  suggestions  are  to  be  borne  in  mind  when 
writing  letters  of  complaint  and  adjustment : 

1.  Your  complaint  must,  of  course,  be  justly  grounded. 
It  must  be  courteously  and  calmly  made,  and  supported  by 
detailed  facts  for  which  you  have  proof  or  evidence.  You  are 
always  absurd  when  you  lose  your  temper — in  writing, 
doubly  so.  Show  the  same  courtesy  that  you  expect  to 
receive. 

2.  A  letter  of  complaint,  whether  it  be  just  or  unjust, 
must  be  promptly  acknowledged.  This  promptness  is  a  long 
step  toward  adjustment. 

3.  A  frank  acknowledgment  of  fault,  if  the  fault  is 
yours,  goes  far  in  a  letter,  as  it  does  anywhere,  to  create  a 
better  feeling. 

4.  They  say  it  is  always  good  business  to  be  not  only  fair, 
but  as  generous  as  possible  in  allowing  any  claims  a  cus- 
tomer may  make.  At  any  rate  this  makes  a  much  pleasanter 
letter  to  write. 

5.  As  a  matter  of  effectiveness,  put  your  concession  to 
your  customer  first  in  your  letter.     Put  your  refusal  to 


Business  composition  237 

concede  in  the  body  of  your  letter,  where  it  will  be  as 
unobtrusive  as  possible. 

Adjustments  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  not  matters  of  Eng- 
lish, but  matters  of  business  policy.  They  are  generally, 
in  any  large  business,  turned  over  to  an  experienced  de- 
partment manager. 

Exercise  12 

Write  the  following  letters : 

1.  To  Ward  Brothers,  making  a  complaint  that  out  of  an  order 
sent  them  for  a  cream  separator,  a  gas  range,  and  a  hot-water  heater, 
only  two  of  the  articles  have  reached  you. 

2.  The  reply  to  this,  expressing  regret  and  explaining  that  the 
other  article  had  to  be  sent  from  the  factory  in  another  city. 

3.  To  the  Northern  Furniture  Company,  Sheboygan,  Wisconsin, 
that  owing  to  their  delay  in  shipping  an  expensive  sideboard,  you 
lost  the  sale,  as  your  customer  refused  to  wait. 

4.  As  for  the  Northern  Furniture  Company,  write  two  replies  to 
this  letter — one  to  a  customer  whose  business  is  in  Eau  Claire,  Wis- 
consin, one  to  a  customer  whose  business  is  in  Houston,  Texas. 

13.  Letters  requesting  payment. — The  first  letter  to  the 
person  who  owes  you  is  a  mere  colorless  note  sent  in  course 
of  business,  as  courteous  as  possible,  and  assuming  as  a 
matter  of  course,  that  the  failure  to  pay  without  reminder 
is  an  oversight ;  as. 

Dear  Snt: 

The  inclosed  statement  of  your  account  will  show  that  a  balance 
of  $135  was  due  on  the  tenth  of  the  month. 

The  bill  rendered  on  the  first  of  the  month  was  doubtless  over- 
looked by  you. 

Yours  truly, 

The  second  letter  may  be  more  emphatic  in  the  hope  of 
being  more  effective. 


238  ESSENTIALS  OP  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

Dear  Sir: 

Two  weeks  ago  we  wrote  you  concerning  a  balance  of  $135  due 
us  on  account.  It  is  now  long  overdue,  and  we  have  heard  nothing 
from  you.     Please  give  this  matter  immediate  attention. 

Yours   truly, 

If  a  third  letter  is  necessary,  it  is  ordinarily  a  sign  that 
you  can  not  retain  the  delinquent  as  a  customer  in  any 
case,  so  you  will  probably  write  with  great  firmness ;  as, 

Dear  Sir: 

Since  you  have  paid  no  attention  to  our  two  letters  concerning 
your  overdue  account,  we  are  forced  to  believe  that  the  delay  is  de- 
liberate. We  must  insist  that  this  account  be  settled  by  the  25th  of 
this  month.  If  this  is  not  done,  we  will  draw  on  you;  and  if  you 
have  not  remitted  in  the  meantime,  please  arrange  to  honor  our 
draft. 

Yours  truly. 

If  you  have  finally  to  place  the  account  in  the  hands  of  a 
lawyer  or  a  collecting  agency,  you  would  probably  write- — 

Dear  Sir: 

Much  to  our  regret,  we  have  been  forced  to  place  your  account 
of  $135  in  the  hands  of  our  attorney,  Mr.  Charles  Hoyt,  417  Unity 
Building,  Chicago.     You  will  hear  from  him  at  once. 

Yours  truly, 

After  the  transaction  reaches  this  stage,  it  passes  com- 
pletely out  of  the  field  of  English. 

Many  business  houses  use  longer  series  of  collection  let- 
ters— many  of  the  letters  containing  argument  and  expos- 
tulation and  persuasion — the  effort  being  directed  toward 
collecting  the  money  and  keeping  the  customer.  These  let- 
ters should  be  the  work  of  an  expert  writer  and  business 
man. 

Of  course,  if  you  are  the  customer  you  can  probably  teU 
beforehand  when  you  will  not  be  able  to  meet  your  accounts. 
You  should  then  take  time  by  the  forelock,  and  ask  for  an 
extension  of  time. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  239 

In  such  a  letter  you  should  explain  your  request,  and 
indicate  some  plan  by  which  you  will  pay,  or  set  some  date 
when  you  will  pay ;  as, 

(Assume  heading,  address,  and  signature.) 
My  dear  Sib: 

My  account  with  you  becomes  due  March.  I  am  writing  to  ask 
for  an  extension  of  time. 

I  have  recently  undergone  a  serious  surgical  operation;  the  loss 
of  time  in  the  hospital  and  the  expenses  of  the  operation  have  made 
large  inroads  upon  my  resources.  I  shall  be  able  to  pay  the  account 
in  full  in  two  weeks.  Such  an  extension  of  time  will  be  a  great 
accommodation. 

Yours  very  truly, 

14.  Sales-letters. — Sales-letters  are  the  most  interesting 
of  all  business  form-letters,  from  the  point  of  view  of  com- 
position; they  give  more  scope  for  dramatic  and  literary 
effect  than  any  other  form  of  business  writing.  You  have 
been  convinced,  I  am  sure,  from  the  limited  practice  that 
you  have  had  in  this  course,  that  the  writing  of  a  sales-letter, 
while  no  easy  task,  is  a  most  fascinating  one. 

Some  of  them  come  to  their  writers  as  certain  beautiful 
poems  have  come,  as  a  moment's  inspiration,  a  sudden 
vision;  but  most  of  those  that  are  good,  are  good  for  the 
same  reason  that  certain  poems  are  good — they  have  been 
written  and  rewritten  with  loving  care,  tested,  withdrawn, 
and  tested  again,  and  finally  perfected. 

No  wonder  that  a  writer  of  good  sales-letters  looks  upon 
his  file  of  letters  with  the  same  loving  pride  with  which  a 
poet  looks  upon  his  volume  of  verse ! 

A  sales-letter  is  a  good  speech,  heightened  up  at  points, 
condensed,  and  written  out.  It  performs  the  same  functions 
as  a  speech  on  a  practical  matter. 

1.  It  must  make  a  skillful  and  attractive  approach. 


240  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

2.  It  must  explain,  show  the  goods,  unfold  the  plan,  pro- 
duce interest  and  conviction. 

3.  It  must  persuade,  appeal,  stir  the  emotions  and  awaken 
a  desire  for  the  thing  presented. 

4.  It  must  start  the  human  motor^=-create  action,  secure 
results. 

If  you  will  review  at  this  point  Making  a  Speech  (Chapter 
IX,  B),  you  will  again  see  that  the  processes  of  composition 
are  practically  the  same  as  for  a  sales-letter. 

A  sales-letter  sent  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  has  a  great 
advantage,  because  it  can  build  upon  an  interest  already 
awakened.  But  no  wide-awake  correspondent  will  rely  en- 
tirely on  this  interest.  A  tardy  reply  or  a  cold,  antiquated 
form-letter  without  relevancy,  is  certain  death  to  a  budding 
interest. 

Suppose  your  employer  is  pushing  a  modern  artistic 
drop-light.  An  inquirer  has  seen  the  firm's  advertisement, 
and  from  the  cut  believes  that  it  would  be  suitable  for 
his  den.  Suppose  when  he  writes  to  ask  about  it  your 
clerk  fills  an  envelope  with  old,  cold  form-letters  that 
discourse  on  electric  fixtures  in  general,  and  incloses  tes- 
timonials from  banks  and  office  buildings  and  railway 
stations  that  have  installed  your  fixtures — just  possibly 
he  incloses  a  reprint  of  the  advertisement  your  inquirer 
has  already  seen.  Such  a  mechanical,  irrelevant  process 
throttles  your  customer's  interest  in  its  cradle.  If  he 
buys  a  lamp  for  his  den,  he  buys  it  from  another  house. 

A  sales-letter  that  has  to  awaken  interest  must,  first  of 
all,  get  everything  it  can  out  of  the  first  impression.  The 
letter  as  a  picture  should  be  attractive — good  paper,  clean 
type,  pleasant  spacing;  the  note  struck  in  the  opening 
paragraph  must  please  or  interest. 

1.  The  opening  paragraph  of  a  sales-letter  is  even  more 
important  than  the  opening  section  of  a  speech;  a  speaker 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  241 

has  this  advantage  of  his  audience — they  can  not  bolt  when 
they  see  from  his  opening  sentences  that  deadly  boredom 
stares  them  in  the  face;  and  a  speaker,  if  he  can  keep  on, 
may  recover  his  ground.  But  the  waste-basket  yawns 
temptingly  near  for  the  letter  that  opens  coldly  or  stupidly. 
At  the  same  time  it  is  true  that  a  bit  of  mere  clap-trap 
or  insincerity  to  catch  attention  is  not  desirable. 

If  this  letter  sold  anything  it  was  in  spite  of  its 
opening : 

Dear  Sir: 

In  compliance  with  your  request  of  recent  date  we  are  sending 
you  our  latest  general  catalogue,  inasmuch  as  we  do  not  know  which 
department  catalogue  you  wish.  We  also  have  many  special  cata- 
logues, for  different  kinds  of  goods.  On  request,  we  shall  be  glad  to 
send  any  one  of  these  also. 

Yours  truly, 

Yet  its  coldness  is  almost  as  inviting  as  the  obvious 
trickiness  of  this: 

Dear  Sir: 

What  YOU  amount  to  in  this  world  depends  wholly  upon  your- 
self. What  you  do  with  your  time  determines  absolutely  what  you 
are. 

Time  is  our  greatest  heritage;  and  we  waste  it,  unmindful  of  its 
value  and  small  supply. 

The  languid  note  of  the  next  opening  sentence  would 
infect  any  reader.  He  would  scarcely  be  able  to  drop  the 
letter  into  the  waste-basket. 

Dear  Sir: 

Will  you  take  a  moment's  time  to  glance  over  the  inclosed  cir- 
cular and  consider  whether  the  situation  therein  set  forth  is  true  of 
your  institution? 


242  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

What  is  wrong  with  this  opening? 

a)  A  correspondent  should  not  ask  for  a  mmnent^s  time. 
He  should  assume  that  he  is  pFesenting  a  matter  to  awaken 
absorbing  interest. 

h)  He  should  not  suggest  a  glance.  He  should  assume 
that  his  circular  will  be  read  in  detail.  These  two  phrases 
hypnotize  the  reader  into  indifference. 

c)  This  sentence  should  say  what  the  circular  is  about ; 
this  is  what  a  busy  man  wants  to  see  first. 

d)  The  situation  is  a  cold  generality. 

e)  Therein  set  forth  is  a  formalism. 

f)  Your  institution  lacks  the  human  touch;  it  is  rather 
a  bloodless  thing  to  call  a  man's  beloved  business — his 
school,  his  college,  his  dearly  beloved  job — your  institution. 

g)  Incidentally  there  is  a  bit  of  shaky  grammar  in  it, 
since  whether  is  left  bereft  of  its  twin  brother  or. 

But  its  chief  fault  as  an  opening  paragraph  is  its  lack 
of  color,  or  warmth,  or  human  appeal,  and  its  extremely 
humble  claim  for  itself. 

A  sales-letter  should  remain  a  letter  and  not  become  a 
mere    advertisement.      The    opening    of    this   letter,    for 
example,  really  belongs  in  an  advertisement : 
Dear  Sir: 

"It  saves  seven  per  cent." 

So  said  Mr.  John  H.  Samuels,  a  manufacturer  of  Birmingham, 
Ala. 

This  is  followed  by  a  long  narrative — matter  which,  how- 
ever effective  in  a  public  advertisement,  does  not  belong  in 
a  letter  of  any  kind.  To  preface  it  with  a  Dear  Sir  does  not 
turn  it  into  a  letter. 

2.  The  urgency  to  action  with  which  your  sales-letter 
closes  should  be  sincere.  If  you  have  sent  out  the  same 
letter  six  months  before,  and  have  at  that  time  assured  your 
hoped-for  customer  in  a  voice  quivering  with  emotion  that 
you  have  only  ten  sets  of  this  indispensable  book  left — 


BUSINESS   COMPOSITION  243 

and  that  they  are  going  like  hot  cakes — if  you  repeat  this 
in  a  new  letter,  he  will  probably  say  ''Wolf,"  and  let 
the  chance  go  by  again.  "Positively  the  last"  has  lost  its 
original  power  in  every  field.  Your  urgency  must  ring 
true.  Offer  to  send  the  books  free  of  cost  for  his  examina- 
tion; tell  him  to  enclose  $1.00  at  your  risk — ^make  it  look 
easy  to  him.  The  most  persuasive  little  device  I  can  think 
of  is  a  neat  little  form  of  application  for  an  express  money 
order  with  all  directions  printed  on  it,  sent  by  a  mail-order 
house.  The  miniature  form  looks  so  attractive,  so  ''nifty," 
it  makes  the  process  seem  so  easy,  that  it  constitutes  a 
temptation. 

Of  course  it  is  bad  art  and  bad  psychology  and  bad  busi- 
ness to  offer  any  negative  suggestions.  Never  be  the  one 
to  bring  up  objections  to  your  goods,  even  for  the  sake 
of  answering  them. 

Never  suggest  that  your  letter  be  filed — ^your  sales-letter, 
I  mean,  or  that  there  might  be  delay  on  your  reader 's  part. 
Even  though  you  may  not  say  it,  assume  that  he  will 
act  now.  * '  Trusting  to  hear  from  you  in  the  near  future, ' ' 
has  a  dampening  and  soothing  effect,  and  will  not  stir  to 
action. 

3.  The  body  of  your  sales-letter  calls  for  all  you  have 
learned  of  clearness  and  effectiveness.  No  principle  is  more 
useful  than  that  of  relevancy. 

The  sales-letter  belongs  to  an  occasion;  announcement 
of  the  new  season's  goods,  a  periodical  bargain  sale,  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  new  manager,  the  opening  of  a  new  depart- 
ment, a  removal,  an  enlargement  of  quarters,  a  municipal 
celebration,  a  holiday,  a  great  convention,  etc.,  give  occasion 
to  the  business  man  for  timely  sales-letters. 

The  sales-letter  appeals  to  a  class  or  a  community,  and 
is  prepared  for  their  benefit.  It  is  a  waste  of  time  and 
money  to  send  announcements  of  a  bargain  sale  in  your 


244  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

grocery  to  distant  towns ;  it  is  more  than  wasteful  to  send 
announcements  of  spring  styles  to  church  sisterhoods.  But 
you  would  send  your  bargain-sale  announcement  to  most 
of  the  housekeepers  in  your  own  town,  and  you  would  send 
your  letter  concerning  fine  linen  and  embroidery  materials 
to  the  Sisters. 

Your  sales-letters  to  sell  filing  devices  to  lawyers  and 
business  managers  should  be  short  and  crisp,  with  pointed 
paragraphs  and  isolated  sentences  to  catch  the  eye  at  a 
glance,  never  needing  a  second  page. 

Your  sales-letters  to  sell  fertilizers  or  plows  or  nursery 
stock  may  be  long,  discursive,  colloquial,  and  gossipy,  de- 
signed to  give  a  long  winter-evening 's  reading  by  the  lamp 
in  the  farmhouse.     , 

The  sales-letter  is  relevant  to  the  goods  it  is  trying  to  sell. 
It  keeps  within  its  field  and  uses  the  material  it  finds  there. 
If  it  is  selling  land  in  Florida,  it  doesn  't  use  images  of  snow- 
capped mountains  and  cold  trout-streams;  if  it  is  selling 
land  in  Maine,  it  doesn 't  praise  palm  trees  and  coral  islands. 
All  its  argument  and  persuasion  bear  in  mind  these  goods. 

The  following  is  submitted  as  a  good  typical  sales-letter : 

July  10,  19.... 
Dear  Madam: 

You  are,  of  course,  perfectly  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  Pike 
Fisheries  Company  is  the  oldest  and  largest  concern  of  its  kind  in 
the  United  States. 

Choctaw  Market,  located  at  186  North  State  Street  (near  Lake 
Street),  is  the  finest  retail  fish  market  in  Chicago,  and  is  the  only 
retail  store  of  the  Pike  Fisheries  Company.  Here  we  have  almost 
everything  conceivable  in  fish  and  sea  foods. 

With  Chicago  a  distributing  center  of  the  Pike  Fisheries  Com- 
pany, we  have  a  great  advantage  in  being  able  to  select  the  choicest 
of  all  varieties  of  fish  and  sea  foods  immediately  upon  their  arrival. 
Fresh  water  fish  from  the  Inland  Lakes  and  Rivers,  by  express,  reach 
Chicago  over  night.  Halibut  and  Salmon  come  direct  from  the  Coast 
in  refrigerator  cars  by  express ;  fresh  Cod  and  Haddock  from  Grlouces^ 


BUSINESS    COMPOSITION  245 


ter,  Lobsters  from  Maine,  Oysters  from  Connecticut,  Crabs  from 
Maryland,  Frog  Legs  from  Louisiana.  All  are  on  ice  at  Choctaw 
Market  as  quickly  as  express  service  can  deliver  them,  and  in  the  finest 
possible  condition. 

Our  shelves  are  stocked  with  the  finest  canned  Salmon  put  up,  as 
well  as  other  canned  fish,  shrimps,  clam  juice,  et  cetera,  and  our  cool 
cellars  with  Salt  Mackerel,  Herring,  Codfish,  and  the  like.  We  receive 
smoked  Whitefish,  Salmon,  Sturgeon,  Trout,  and  other  fish  daily- 
fresh  from  our  Chicago  smoke-houses. 

Now  this  little  dissertation  is  just  to  acquaint  you  with  our  facili- 
ties. Our  object  in  sending  you  this  letter  is  to  enable  you  to  avail 
yourself  of  the  opportunity  to  purchase  these  appetizing  products  of 
Ocean,  Lake,  and  Eiver. 

We  have  automobile  delivery  service  daily  to  both  North  and 
South  sides.  These  auto  deliveries  start  north  at  10:00  a.  m,  and 
south  at  2:00  p.  m.  A  telephone  call  from  you  will  receive  careful 
attention,  and  we  will  deliver  your  order  promptly. 

All  people  enjoy  fish  the  year  round,  when  they  know  it  is  fresh. 
We  are  quite  sure  that  you  do,  and  that  if  you  will  favor  us  with  a 
trial  order  you  will  become  one  of  our  many  regular  customers. 

Pike's  Choctaw  Market, 

F.  H.  Pond,  Manager, 
186  No.  State  Street, 
S-B  Tel.  Randolph  6984. 

Here  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  we  must  call  this  a 
good  letter : 

a)  It  is  written  in  very  good  English. 

&^  It  makes  its  appeal  consistently  to  the  public  it  has 
selected — housekeepers  of  a  rather  prosperous  class. 

c)  It  is  relevant  to  the  season.  It  offers  fish  when  every- 
body craves  fish — when  it  is  too  hot  to  eat  meat. 

d)  It  emphasizes  the  coolness  and  freshness  of  its  goods, 
e/  It  names  tempting  varieties  and  suggests  harmonious 

images. 

f)  It  shows  how  easily  you  can  secure  these  goods,  even 
suggesting  the  hour  of  delivery. 

g)  It  tactfully  suggests  a  first  order  and  invites  you  to 
become  a  regular  customer.  ■     '"- 


246  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

The  following  is  a  poor  sales-letter: 

Dear  Sir: 

We  are  in  receipt  of  your  recent  inquiry  regarding  our  Peerless 
Porch  Screen.  We  take  pleasure  in  forwarding  you,  under  separate 
cover,  one  of  our  booklets,  showing  the  screen  in  use  under  various 
conditions,  and  enclose  herewith  other  literature  pertaining  thereto. 

We  are  represented  in  your  territory  by  the  Muskegon  Tent  & 
Awning  Company,  Muskegon,  Michigan,  and  have  asked  them  to 
take  up  with  you  the  matter  of  your  screen  requirements. 

We  hope  very  mucb  you  will  decide  to  give  the  Peerless  Porch 
Screen  a  trial,  as  we  are  sure  you  will  find  it  the  most  convenient  and 
attractive  type  of  screen  you  have  ever  made. 

Yours  very  truly, 

You  are  prepared  to  criticize  this  for  yourself — the  cold, 
formal  style;  the  presence  of  those  dreary  "stickers"  of 
style,  recent  inquiry,  enclosed  herewith,  literature  pertain- 
ing thereto;  a  typographical  error  in  the  word  made  that 
makes  nonsense  of  the  sentence.  Incidentally,  the  Muskegon 
Tent  &  Awning  Company  did  not  take  it  up. 

15.  PoUow-up  letters. — ^Before  we  write  some  sales- 
letters  of  our  own,  we  must  discuss  their  sequels,  which  are 
known  as  follow-up  letters.  These  are  the  most  difficult  of 
all  business  letters.  They  should  be  arranged  in  a  series, 
producing  a  cumulative  effect  in  argument,  in  persuasion, 
and  in  urgency.  If  you  start  with  a  sales-letter  strong 
enough  to  produce  results,  it  is  very  difficult  to  raise  it  to 
the  fourth  or  fifth  power  of  strength.  This  is  why  so  many 
form-letters  abandon  argument  and  take  to  scolding  or 
screaming. 

There  seems  to  be  a  practical  agreement  that  not  more 
than  four  follow-up  letters  should  be  used,  making  five  in 
the  series.  The  whole  series  should  maintain  a  tone  of 
respect  and  of  self-respect  no  matter  how  urgent  they  may 
become.  Anyone  who  has  ever,  in  the  capacity  of  '^  pros- 
pect," received  a  series  of  these  letters  knows  why  the  Latin 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  247 

word  for  follow-up,  persequor,  yields  the  English  word  per- 
secute. A  nagging  follow-up  letter  or  a  hurt  and  grieved 
one,  or  a  pitying,  patronizing  one,  is  a  lamentable  mistake. 
The  following  paragraphs  are  from  follow-up  letters  of  this 
mistaken  kind : 

1.  I  am  writing  to  you  again  because  I  want  you  to  realize  fully 
what  it  is  you  are  losing  if  you  do  not  accept  the  proposition  of 
.  If  you  reject  it,  you  may  be  losing  the  oppor- 
tunity of  a  lifetime.  Read  every  word  of  this  letter — read  and  weigh 
every  statement — and  do  not  lose  a  minute  deciding,  etc.,  etc. 

2.  We  have  been  successful  in  satisfying  the  wants  of  a  very  large 
number  of  those  who  have  written  us,  but  we  have  not  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  favorable  reply  from  you,  and  we  are  naturally  anxious 

to  ascertain  the  reason Trusting  to  be  permitted  to 

send  you  something  besides  letters,  we  remain 

Very  truly  yours, 

3.  You  have  already  wasted  enough  time  to  learn  ten  times  as 
much  as  you  will  ever  know. 

Begin  now,  or  the  day  may  come  when  you  will  look  back  and 
wish  that  you  could  have  the  years  again. 

Then  too  late  you  will  realize  that  time  that  has  passed  like  the 
water  that  flows  over  the  mill-wheel  is  gone  forever.  Only  a  few 
days  remain  during  which  you  may  obtain  the  benefit  of  the  large 
reduction  offered  from  regular  prices  of  certain  courses.  Don't  lose 
it  by  negligence. 

Very  truly  yours, 

The  two  following  letters  constitute  a  series,  and  seem  to 
have  been  sufficient.  They  were  sent  by  a  piano  firm  to  per- 
sons who  have  summer  homes  in  the  country  as  well  as  to 
those  who  live  permanently  in  the  same  country  neighbor- 
hood. Great  success  followed  the  experiment,  whether  be- 
cause of  the  letters  or  because  the  firm  was  meeting  a  real 
need,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  The  letters  are  ^iven  as  good  ex- 
amples of  a  quiet,  dignified,  and  adequate  piece  of  writing.^ 


248  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

June  9,  19 

Dear  Sir: 

At  this  time  of  the  year  your  piano  needs  attention,  and  the 
best  is  none  too  good.  A  fine  instrument  is  so  delicate  a  piece  of 
mechanism  that  only  an  expert  is  competent  to  tune  and  regulate  it. 

As  you  know,  there  are  three  parts  to  piano  work — regulation  of 
the  action;  voicing,  or  tone  regulating;  and  tuning.  If  any  of  these 
is  neglected,  the  life  of  your  piano  is  not  truly  renewed,  and  the 
wear  and  tear  of  general  use  is  more  telling  on  its  lasting  qualities. 

We  make  a  specialty  of  our  Tuning  Department.  The  men  who 
are  at  your  disposal  are  truly  experts. 

We  serve  as  promptly  as  we  do  efficiently.  Our  charge,  including 
all  our  expert  care,  is  $3.00,  which  insures  to  you  **  Service  to  the 
Point  of  Satisfaction." 

Sign  and  return  the  inclosed  card.  We  know  "Crown  Quality 
Workmanship"  will  please  you. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Dear  Sir: 

Recently  we  wrote  you,  and  many  others  in  your  locality,  in  re- 
gard to  your  piano  tuning.  We  have  received  so  many  replies  that 
we  are  warranted  in  sending  one  of  our  expert  tuners  to  take  care 
of  this  new  business.  We  want  your  patronage,  and  your  trial  order 
will  prove  the  value  of  "Crown  Quality  Workmanship." 

This  expert  workmanship  will  mean  much  to  the  lasting  qualities 
of  your  instrument.  Give  your  piano  no  care  for  a  year,  and  it  will 
degenerate  into  a  * '  rattle-box. ' '  Give  the  same  instrument  excellent 
regular  care,  and  it  will  become  a  source  of  joy  and  harmony  in  your 
home  life. 

Since  our  tuning  department  is  especially  busy  at  this  time,  it 
will  greatly  facilitate  matters,  and  save  extra  trips,  if  all  orders 
come  promptly  and  directly  to  this  office.  Your  promptness  in  this 
matter  will  assist  us  in  giving  you  service  to  the  point  of  satisfac- 
tion. 

Very  truly  yours. 

Exercise  13 
Write  the  letters  and  parts  of  letters  as  indicated  below : 

1.  Write  the  first  and  last  paragraphs  of  a  letter  designed  to  sell 
an  electric  toaster. 


BUSINESS    COMPOSITION  249 

2.  Write  the  first  and  last  paragraphs  of  a  letter  selling  a  chicken 
incubator. 

3.  Write  the  opening  and  closing  paragraphs  of  a  letter  designed 
to  sell  a  lot  in  a  suburb  building  up  with  bungalows. 

4.  Write  a  series  of  two  letters  to  sell  a  cream-separator. 

5.  Write  a  sales-letter  announcing  a  sale  of  household  linen. 

6.  Write  a  sales-letter  announcing  the  opening  of  a  department  of 
household  utilities  in  a  department  store. 

7.  Your  butcher  has  just  moved  into  a  larger  shop.  Write  a 
sales-letter  for  him. 

8.  A  fruit  farmer  would  like  an  advance  order  for  his  berries. 
Write  a  sales-letter  for  him. 

9.  Write  a  series  of  three  letters  to  sell  lots  in  a  summer  resort. 

10.  Write  a  series  of  three  letters  to  sell  a  course  of  study  in  a 
correspondence  school. 

11.  Write  a  series  of  three  letters  to  sell  a  set  of  books  for  chil- 
dren, containing  well-known  stories,  biographies,  and  poems. 

12.  Your  grocer  has  just  received  a  new  supply  of  canned  vegeta- 
bles.    Write  his  sales-letter. 

13.  Under  date  of  June  1  write  a  letter  to  sell  silverware. 

14.  Write  a  form-letter  to  be  sent  to  every  one  asking  for  a  jew- 
eler's catalogue. 

15.  Write  a  form-letter  to  be  sent  by  a  fire-insurance  company  to 
farmers  living  in  a  neighborhood  where  a  barn  has  just  been  struck 
by  lightning. 

Note. — The  instructor  should  vary  this  exercise  according  to  the 
needs  and  interests  of  his  class. 

B.  MISCELLANEOUS  PRACTICxiL  DOCUMENTS 

1.  Telegrams. — All  messages  sent  by  wire  or  cable  and 
all  wireless  messages  need  to  be  very  carefully  worded.  For 
the  sake  of  economy  they  must  be  made  as  brief  as  possible ; 
yet  they  must  not  be  so  brief  as  to  be  obscure  or  misleading. 
They  must  not  depend  upon  punctuation  for  clearness,  for 
a  punctuation  mark  must  be  paid  for  as  a  word.  Figures, 
initials,  surnames,  names  of  towns,  states,  and  countries, 
and  all  abbreviations  of  weights  and  measures  are  each 
counted  as  one  word ;  decimal  points  and  punctuation  marks 
are  counted  as  words. 


250  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

In  day  telegrams  ten  words  are  sent  at  a  fixed  rate,  ac- 
cording to  distance ;  additional  words  are  charged  for  at  a 
fixed  rate  by  the  word.  In  night  letters  fifty  words  are 
sent  at  the  same  rate,  and  words  over  fifty  are  charged  for 
at  a  fixed  rate  by  the  word.  A  night  letter  is  a  message  sent 
at  night  when  the  wires  and  operators  are  not  so  busy.  It 
may  be  handed  in  at  the  office  at  any  time,  but  it  is  sent  at 
night  and  delivered  at  its  destination  the  next  morning. 

In  telegrams  only  the  words  of  the  message  are  counted 
and  charged  for.  In  cablegrams  the  name,  address,  date, 
and  signature  are  counted  and  charged  for. 

The  expense  of  sending  cablegrams  has  given  rise  to  the 
code  systems  now  in  general  use — especially  in  business  mes- 
sages. There  are  many  systems ;  any  business  may  devise  its 
own ;  the  ABC  Western  Union  code  is  the  one  most  used. 

A  code  is  a  series  of  words,  generally  invented  words,  to 
which  a  meaning  is  arbitrarily  attached — a  meaning  that 
might  possibly  take  a  whole  sentence  if  written  out  in  plain 
language.  Copies  of  this  code  must  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
sender  and  the  receiver  of  messages.  For  example,  this 
message  might  be  sent : 
Judson,  American  Consul,  Pekin: 

Momus.    Impos.  Robertson. 

Interpreted  this  would  mean — 

It  is  not  necessary  for  you  to  return  at  once.  I  have  forwarded 
your  mail,  care  of  Scholle  &  Co.,  Shanghai,  China. 

It  is,  of  course,  not  necessary  to  use  a  code.  Cable  mes- 
sages may  be  sent  in  plain  language.  But  the  expense  is  so 
great  that  it  invites  obscurity. 

In  business,  telegrams  should  be  confirmed — a  letter  giv- 
ing the  contents  of  the  telegram  and  further  necessary  par- 
ticulars should  be  sent  at  once. 

In  writing  a  telegram  neither  salutation  nor  complimen- 
tary close  is  used.    To  illustrate  the  condensation  necessary 


BUSINESS    COMPOSITION  251 

in  a  telegram,  notice  the  following;  you  receive  a  message 
which  reads : 

Offered  position  assistant  engineer  Brigham  Construction  Co.  Sal- 
ary $3500.     Wire. 

You  know  that  this  expanded  would  read  like  this : 

My  dear  Olson: 

You  are  offered  the  position  of  assistant  engineer  in  the  Brigham 
Construction  Company  at  a  salary  of  $3500  a  year.  Telegraph  them 
whether  or  not  you  accept  the  offer. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Edward  Bruck 

If  you  were  writing  your  reply  you  would  say  something 
like  this : 

Gentlemen  : 

I  should  be  glad  to  accept  the  position  of  assistant  engineer  in 
your  company,  and  the  salary  of  $3500  is  quite  satisfactory.  But 
I  am  under  contract  to  finish  what  I  am  doing  here,  which  will  take 
me  three  months.     Can  you  hold  the  place  that  long? 

Very  truly  yours, 

What  you  telegraph  might  be  this : 
Under  contract  three  months.     Accept  if  you  can  wait. 

Exercise  14 

Convert  the  following  series  of  items  into  telegrams,  using 
as  few  words  as  possible.  They  must  be  clear  enough  to  be 
intelligible.    Telegraph — 

1.  To  your  father,  in  Chicago,  that  you  will  leave  San  Francisco 
on  June  12  and  will  reach  Chicago  on  June  16  at  7:15  over  the 
Northwestern  Eailroad. 

2.  To  Professor  James  R.  English,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  ask- 
ing him  if  he  can  give  the  commencement  address  in  your  school  and 
asking  him  what  his  fee  will  be. 

Write  the  letter  that  should  follow  this. 

3.  To  A.  C.  McClurg,  ordering  twenty-five  copies  of  Chase's  "Aud- 
iting and  Cost  Accounting,"  to  be  sent  by  express,  charges  prepaid. 


252  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

4.  To  the  White  Star  Steamship  Company,  New  York,  to  reserve  a 
berth  on  the  "Arabic,"  which  sails  next  Wednesday,  Boston  to  Liv- 
erpool.    Say  you  send  check  to  pay  the  necessary  deposit. 

Write  the  letter  that  should  follow. 

5.  To  the  Pullman  Sleeping  Car  office,  to  reserve  a  lower  berth 
for  you  on  Wednesday  night  on  the  Union  Pacific  train  for  Denver 
that  leaves  Chicago  at  10:30  P.  M. 

6.  To  your  family,  saying  that  you  have  been  in  a  serious  auto- 
mobile accident  and  that,  while  you  are  not  injured,  you  will  not  be 
home  until  twelve  o'clock  tomorrow. 

7.  To  a  man  with  whom  you  had  an  appointment,  that,  having 
missed  a  train,  you  can  not  reach  the  city  until  two  o'clock,  but  that 
you  would  like  to  meet  him  at  your  office  at  three  o  'clock. 

8.  To  the  firm  for  which  you  are  a  traveling  salesman,  that  you 
have  successfully  finished  the  business  on  which  you  were  sent  to  St. 
Louis  and  that  you  are  awaiting  further  instructions. 

9.  To  Spaulding  &  Co.,  saying  that  the  camping  outfit  they  sent 
you  is  short  three  items.  Tell  them  that  you  will  write  details. 
Write  the  letter. 

2.  Advertisements. — This  department  of  business  has 
been  in  our  day  erected  into  a  vast  business  in  itself ;  a  large 
library  of  books  could  be  collected  about  it;  large  and  im- 
posing journals  devote  themselves  to  it. 

The  ' '  copy, ' '  or  writing  that  goes  into  an  advertisement, 
must  share  the  interest  with  pictures,  diagrams,  maps, 
trade-marks,  slogans,  mottoes,  margins,  spaces,  colors — and 
all  the  other  devices  intended  to  produce  clearness  and 
effect.  For  this  is  what  all  advertising  is  doing,  and  all 
that  it  can  do,  when  the  terms  ''clearness"  and  ''effect" 
are  interpreted. 

There  is  little  to  add  here  to  what  has  been  said  under 
these  topics,  as  they  have  come  up  for  discussion  in  their 
natural  places.  So  far  as  the  English  of  advertising  goes, 
it  is  summed  up  in  the  three  master  words — correctness, 
clearness,  effectiveness. 

The  principle  of  effectiveness  that  has  revolutionized  ad- 
vertising is  relevancy.     And  when  we  have  grasped  this 


BUSINESS    COMPOSITION  253 

principle  in  its  three-fold  aspect,  we  have  grasped  the 
fundamental  principles  of  advertising  so  far  as  language 
goes.  Any  merchant  with  goods  to  sell — be  it  plumber's 
supplies  or  education,  fertilizers  or  office  files — can  learn 
how  to  announce  his  goods  to  his  own  circle  of  customers  or 
to  the  class  of  persons  he  knows,  by  the  study  of  the  few 
fundamental  principles  of  effect.  When  he  desires  to  go 
into  the  markets  of  the  big  world,  he  must  have  the  services 
of  an  advertising  expert,  just  as  he  has  the  advice  of  a 
trained  lawyer  and  a  professional  accountant. 

One  form  of  advertisement  any  young  person  in  business 
should  know  how  to  write — that  which  offers  his  own 
services  in  the  business  market. 

The  very  beginner  as  a  rule  need  not  advertise.  He  can 
get  his  first  business  experience  by  trying  some  of  the  posi- 
tions that  ask  for  help ;  or  he  can  be  placed  by  some  friend ; 
when  he  has  had  experience,  he  can  begin  to  feel  that  he 
has  something  to  offer. 

Here  again  our  fundamental  principles  work. 

When  you  advertise  for  a  position  be  exact  and  clear; 
be  relevant;  say  precisely  what  you  can  do.  Give  some 
specific  and  telling  details  that  enable  a  reader  to  see  that 
you  know  your  job  and  your  field.  Give  specific  details  of 
your  experience.  Choose  the  right  medium  for  your  ad- 
vertisement. When  you  become  a  specialist,  advertise  in 
the  journals  that  specialists  read.  Clip  from  the  journals 
those  personal  advertisements  that  interest  you  most.  Don 't 
copy  them  but  learn  from  them. 

Exercise  15 

Review  the  section  on  relevancy  (Chapter  VIII,  5)  and 
the  section  on  sales-letters  (section  14,  above)  and  write  the 
advertisements  called  for  in  the  following  specifications: 

1.  You  are  manufacturing  a  traction  plough.  Write  an  adver- 
tisement of  it,  and  choose  the  publications  in  which  you  will  place  it. 


254  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

2.  Write  an  advertisement  for  the  morning  papers,  announcing 
the  arrival  of  the  first  strawberries  of  the  season  in  your  grocery. 
Make  it  appeal  to  the  persons  you  think  will  be  most  interested. 

3.  Write  an  advertisement  of  a  co-operative  grocery  store  in  your 
neighborhood.     ( Make  a  nice  study  in  relevancy  here. ) 

4.  Write  an  advertisement  of  a  moving  picture  show  which  is  run- 
ning a  film  of  "The  Merchant  of  Venice." 

5.  Write  a  personal  advertisement  for  any  position  you  would  like 
to  have  and  think  you  could  fill.  Let  this  take  two  forms — one  for 
the  classified  column  of  the  daily  paper — one  for  some  special  paper 
chosen  by  yourself. 

6.  You  are  an  experienced  stenographer.  Write  a  personal  adver- 
tisement for  the  daily  paper. 

7.  You  are  a  trained  nurse,  and  would  like  to  travel.  Write  an 
advertisement  for  a  position. 

8.  You  are  a  woman  who  has  traveled  a  great  deal  in  Europe. 
You  would  like  to  take  a  party  of  young  women.     Advertise. 

9.  You  would  like  to  teach  physical  training  in  a  boys'  prepara- 
tory school.     Advertise  in  "The  Outlook." 

10.  You  are  an  expert  milliner.    Advertise  for  a  position. 

11.  You  are  an  electric  engineer,  and  want  a  position  in  Colorado. 
Write  the  advertisement  and  choose  the  paper. 

12.  You  want  a  position  as  advertising  solicitor  for  an  automobile 
journal.    Advertise. 

3.  Reports. — There  is  first  the  informal  report,  such  as 
is  made  by  a  chairman  of  a  committee  in  a  social  club.  This 
may  be  so  informal  as  to  be  presented  at  an  annual  dinner  or 
on  some  such  occasion  in  the  form  of  a  speech.  A  traveling 
salesman  may  make  his  reports  in  the  form  of  friendly  let- 
ters to  his  manager.  But  even  these  informal  reports  should 
be  carefully  thought  out.  They  should  cover  the  aspect  of 
the  matter  they  deal  with.  No  official  or  chairman  can  afford 
to  go  quite  unprepared  into  any  meeting  to  which  he  is  to 
report.  Just  as  for  any  other  speech,  he  must  analyze  his 
material  into  items  and  arrange  these  items  in  some  order — 
logical  or  effective.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  informal 
report  that  is  not  spoken  but  written  out. 

The  second  kind  of  report — the  formal — ^varies  in  length 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  255 

and  complexity  from  that  rendered  by  the  treasurer  of  the 
village  baseball  club  to  that  of  a  committee  of  experts,  filling 
a  ponderous  volume.  In  both  cases,  however,  it  is  a  docu- 
ment to  be  filed  and  consulted,  to  become  a  source  of  knowl- 
edge, a  record  of  progress,  or  a  conclusive  statement. 

Logical  analysis,  clear  arrangement,  statement  exhaustive 
so  far  as  it  goes,  must  characterize  the  formal  report. 
Fortunately,  most  business  houses  furnish  blank  forms  for 
the  reports  of  their  less  experienced  employees  and  mem- 
bers— a  fact  which  makes  the  task  easier  and  the  results 
more  satisfactory.  The  reports  of  the  officials  of  most 
business  and  social  organizations  follow  a  stereotyped  form. 
In  no  business  documents  is  there  more  need  for  correct- 
ness and  clearness  than  in  reports. 

4.  Certain  commonly  used  business  papers. — There  are 
in  common  use  in  business  documents  that  everyone  who 
handles  business  correspondence  should  know  the  look  and 
purpose  of.  The  drawing  up  of  these  documents  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  English,  but  a  great  deal  to  do  with  business. 

1.  A  requisition. — Most  business  houses  have  a  blank 
form  for  their  employees  on  which  they  make  requisitions 
for  supplies.  This  paper  is  really  an  order  blank  used 
within  the  house.    Here  is  a  typical  requisition: 

SUPPLY  DEPARTMENT Aug^X. 19 


Please  Furnish  for Kdlf.orlftl    &   School Dept. 

B^plies  as  follows: 

L.  M.   Jonea Mgr 


Per  E  H  S 

OUAHTITT 

DESCRIPTION 

PRICE 

900 

second  sheets 



20 

-100- 

#10  envftlQpea 

60  . 

256 


ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


2.  The  order  of  goods. — This  is  a  list  of  items  which  a 
buyer  sends  to  a  jobber  or  other  merchant,  naming  the 
items  he  desires  to  purchase.  These  items  in  an  ideal 
order  are  neatly  listed,  with  the  prices  affixed.  These 
items  should  not  be  numbered,  as  the  figures  of  the  series 
may  be  confused  with  the  figures  of  the  items.  Many  jobbers 
and  wholesale  dealers  furnish  customers  with  order  blanks 
which  facilitate  the  ordering. 


'St- 

J  K  H 

B^i^ ,,   .T,  H,  Wfrrlfl,          ,,„„,..., 

D.t«~A»g»l.ldr- 

No.    674 

Send  to ...  1126  £.6Sd  St.^ 

edlvcniD 

Aug.  4 

TIMI 

CHICAGO 

WIUL  CALL 

TAKEN              X   CHARGE                 C.  O.  O. 

PAID  ORDER 

Ss 

1 

bbl.  Pillabury  Flour   ,  ,. 

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<9iE 
Of 

1 

Armour  Stsr  Han               ^ 

8 

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ii 

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SALESMEN  MUST  NOT  WRITE  IN  THIS  SPACE  I3~ 

BUSINESS  CX)MPOSITION 


257 


3.  The  invoice, — This  is  a  list  of  the  purchases  sent  by  the 
seller  to  the  buyer.  It  is  the  order  turned  around.  In  fact, 
many  dealers  make  an  order  out  in  duplicate,  the  duplicate 
being  on  colored  paper  and  serving  as  an  invoice.  The 
invoice  is  returned  with  the  goods  to  the  buyer,  or  sent  im- 
mediately after.  To  a  cash  customer  it  serves  as  a  bill ;  he 
pays  the  invoice.  A  carefully  prepared  invoice  form  gives 
the  number  given  the  order  by  the  dealer,  and  provides 
for  the  order  number  of  the  customer. 

4.  The  hill. — This  is  an  itemized  list  of  purchases,  giving 
all  details — date  of  purchase,  amount,  price,  etc.  It  is  sent 
out  periodically,  say,  monthly,  to  all  customers  who  buy  on 
account.    It  may  cover  the  items  of  many  invoices. 

Marshall  Field  &  Company: 

Importers,  Retailers.  Manufacturers. 

State  ,  Washington.Ranbolph  &'VCvBash. 
SoLt>To  Chicaoo.      Attg^l,  19- 

O.R. unwell, 
4523  Main  St., 

Evanston.  Ill* 


July  •; 

1 

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258 


ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


5.  The  statement. — This  is  an  abstract  of  a  bill;  it  is  not 
itemized,  but  gives  lump  sums  showing  amounts  credited 
and  balance  on  account. 


Chicago, AU&A-l.* 19 


Mr,  E,  Yi  Miller. 


510  N.  High  St. 


^:s^' WESTERN  GROCERY  HOUSE 

IMPORTERS,  HAIVUFACTUSERS  AND  JOBBERS 
OF  GROCERIES 

4S  BAST  RARDOLPB  STREET 


July  1 

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6.  The  receipt.— This  is  an  acknowledgment  of  money 
received.  It  may  take  the  form  of  a  special  paper  or  it  may 
be  a  receipted  invoice,  bill,  or  statement. 


«  SI" 

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BUSINESS  COMPOSITION 


259 


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260 


ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 


BUSINESS    COMPOSITION 


261 


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262  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

11.  The  postal  money  order. — This  may  be  called  a  check 
on  the  post-office.  It  is  the  same  thing  in  effect  as  an  ex- 
press money  order,  except  that  it  is  an  order  from  one  post- 
office  to  another. 

12.  The  hill  of  lading. — A  sort  of  receipt  given  by  the 
transportation  company  to  the  shipper  of  goods  by  freight, 
who  must  send  it  to  the  consignee.  Without  it  the  con- 
signee cannot  claim  the  goods. 

5.  Social  letters. — The  time  was  when  this  kind  of  let- 
ters was  a  branch  of  literature.  They  served  some  of  the 
purposes  now  served  by  magazines  and  newspapers  and 
even  by  lectures  and  books.  Time  was  plentiful  for  both 
writing  and  reading.  We  must  believe  that  the  great  let- 
ter writers  of  other  days  often  had  one  eye  on  a  possible 
public;  so  they  wrote  loftily  about  subjects,  and  seldom 
became  chatty  or  unconventional. 

Private  or  social  letters  in  our  day  are  quite  different. 
They  are  informal  and  personal,  giving  if  possible  the 
effect  of  conversation. 

Colloquial  language  and  even  a  little  slang  are  permis- 
sible in  letters.  But  just  because  it  is  written  down  and 
therefore  somewhat  permanent,  the  language  and  tone  of 
a  letter  must  be  more  careful,  if  not  more  formal,  than 
those  of  conversation. 

A  provincialism  or  a  slang  word  spoken  in  a  flowing 
conversation  may  have  such  a  context,  or  may  be  spoken 
with  such  a  smile  or  gesture  as  to  seem  humorous  or  witty. 
Lacking  these  things,  written  down  in  the  black-and-white 
formality  of  even  a  friendly  letter,  it  may  seem  unrefined. 

Even  the  friendly  letter  should  not  be  written  without 
forethought.  Before  you  begin  it,  jot  down  the  items  you 
intend  to  treat,  the  news  you  want  to  tell;  otherwise  you 
will  have  a  dangling  postcript — perhaps  two — which  should 
be  avoided ;  or  you  will  remember  as  your  letter  disappears 


BUSINESS    COMPOSITION  263 

into  the  slot  that  you  have  omitted  something  vital.  A 
hint  of  an  outline  will  enable  you  to  arrange  your  letter  so 
that  it  will  not  have  the  atmosphere  of  scrappiness  and 
hurry  so  irritating  to  a  reader. 

A  private  letter  will  almost  of  necessity  be  an  /-letter. 
The  complete  renunciation  of  that  interesting  capital  letter 
will  not  make  it  the  less  an  /-letter  if  you  fill  it  with  self. 
The  evasion  of  the  word  /  is  likely  to  call  attention  to 
the  egotism  of  the  letter.  To  call  yourself  ''your  corre- 
spondent" is  to  ruin  your  letter.  Indeed,  a  strong  flavor 
of  egotism  produces  in  a  letter  the  impression  of  personality 
that  a  friendly  letter  should  have. 

The  trick  of  the  old-fashioned  school-girl  of  underscoring 
her  words,  ranging  from  one  line  to  secure  a  mild  emphasis 
to  four  or  five  to  produce  a  thunder-clap,  has  been  laughed 
out  of  the  world.  The  modern  school-girl  does  not  under- 
score— she  does  not  write  letters — she  telephones  or  she 
sends  a  night-letter. 

1.  The  heading  in  social  correspondence  is  not  so  im- 
portant as  in  business;  it  is  by  preference  written  at  the 
top  at  the  right  and  gives  street,  city,  and  state,  and  in  case 
of  a  foreign  address  all  the  items  necessary  for  your  cor- 
respondent to  know.  The  matter  composing  the  heading 
may  be  written  at  the  bottom  of  the  letter  beginning  at  the 
left  margin.  It  may  be  arranged  with  indention  or  in 
block  form.  Abbreviations  should  not  be  used,  and  punc- 
tuation may  be  omitted. 

2.  The  date  is  important.  In  very  formal  social  letters, 
such  as  wedding  invitations,  the  date  is  written  out — even 
the  year — not  given  in  numerals;  as,  September  twenty- 
third,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty-one. 

3.  The  address  may  be  omitted.  It  may  be  placed  at  the 
top  as  in  a  business  letter,  or  it  may  be  placed  at  the  bottom 
of  the  letter  at  the  left  margin.    Of  course,  both  the  head- 


264  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

ing  and  the  address  should  not  be  placed  at  the  bottom. 
Use  no  abbreviation  in  the  address,  and  punctuation  here 
may  be  dispensed  with. 

4.  The  salutation  may  take  any  form  ranging  in  formality 
from  Dear  Mr.  Bruce  to  the  tender  You  old  Thief  with 
which  a  distinguished  gray-haired  University  professor 
salutes  his  old  college  chum.  According  to  American  usage, 
Dear  Mr.  Bruce  is  less  formal  than  Mif  dear  Mr.  Bruce. 
The  first  word  of  this  phrase  and  any  word  used  in  the  place 
of  a  name  should  have  a  capital ;  as,  My  dear  Sister,  Dear 
Mother. 

No  abbreviation  should  be  used  in  the  salutation  except 
Mr.,  Mrs.,  and  Dr.  A  comma  after  the  phrase  is  the  usual 
punctuation. 

5.  The  complimentary  close  depends  on  the  relation  that 
exists  between  the  persons  and  on  the  tone  of  the  letter — one 
can  imagine  a  letter  in  which  Yours  till  death  would  not 
seem  out  of  place;  but  the  phrase  varies  from  Yours  sin- 
cerely to  one  expressing  the  warmest  affection;  it  should 
never  be  gushing  or  foolishly  sentimental.  This  phrase  is 
followed  by  a  comma. 

6.  The  signature  may  contain  the  Christian  name,  or  this 
may  be  shortened  to  initials;  the  surname  should  appear 
in  every  letter.  Thousands  of  letters  perish  annually  in 
the  dead-letter  office  because  Joe  or  Lottie  or  Nick  or 
Bunny  thought  these  words  alone  sufficient  as  a  signature. 

7.  In  the  direction  on  the  envelope,  the  same  usage  pre- 
vails as  in  the  direction  of  a  business  enevelope.  In  social 
letters  one  is  less  likely  to  use  abbreviations.  Indeed, 
present  usage  condemns  abbreviations  in  social  correspond- 
ence, and  does  not  use  punctuation  in  the  address. 

8.  Invitations  are  of  two  kinds — informal  and  formal. 
Informal  invitations  are  written  precisely  like  short  let- 


BUSINESS    COMPOSITION 


265 


ters.    They  should  be  scrupulously  exact  in  giving  dates, 
hours,  places  of  meeting,  etc. 

The  reply  to  an  informal  invitation,  which  should  be 
sent  immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  the  invitation,  should 
carefully  mention  dates,  hours,  places  of  meeting,  etc.,  if  it 
is  an  acceptance.  If  the  invitation  is  declined,  only  the 
day  need  be  mentioned.  Informal  invitations  are  written 
in  the  first  person,  and  the  person  is  addressed  in  the 
second  person.  An  informal  invitation  given  over  the  tele- 
phone is  by  some  careful  persons  confirmed  by  a  note.  Ex- 
amples of  informal  invitations  and  replies  are : 

1.  a)   My  dear  Mrs.  Gordon, 

It  would  give  us  very  great  pleasure  to  have  you  and  Mr.  Gordon 
dine  with  us  on  Wednesday,  May  fifteenth,  at  half -past  seven. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Susan  Peabody  Noreis 
4  Highland  Terrace, 
May  6,  19.... 

h)  My  dear  Mrs.  Norris, 

Mr.  Gordon  and  I  are  delighted  to  -accept  your  charming  invita- 
tion to  dine  with  you  Wednesday,  May  fifteenth,  at  half -past  seven. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Alice  Putnam  Gordon 
547  Kenwood  Avenue, 
May  7,  19 

c)  My  dear  Mrs.  Norris, 

We  regret  sincerely  that  another  engagement,  of  long  standing, 
prevents  our  accepting  your  kind  invitation  for  May  fifteenth. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Alice  Putnam  Gordon 
547  Kenwood  Avenue, 
May  7,  19.... 


266  ESSENTIALS  OF  BUSINESS  ENGLISH 

2.  o)  Dear  Henry, 

We  are  having  a  little  picnic  in  Skokie  Woods  on  Wednesday, 
June  15.  Mother  and  I  should  be  very  glad  if  you  would  join  us. 
The  party  will  meet  at  our  house  at  half -past  three. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Elizabeth  Dwyer 

h)  Dear  Elizabeth, 

I  am  delighted  to  be  asked  to  the  picnic  and  accept  with  the 
greatest  pleasure.  I  shall  be  at  your  house  Wednesday,  June  15,  at 
half -past  three. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Henry  A.  Gill 

Formal  invitations,  whether  written  or  engraved,  are  so 
arranged  as  to  allow  the  names  of  the  persons  to  stand  on 
lines  alone.  They  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  present  a 
symmetrical  design.  They  are  written  and  replied  to  in  the 
third  person. 

Examples  are : 

1.  o)  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harold  Clarice 

request  the  pleasure  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hammond's 
company  at  dinner 
on  Wednesday,  the  sixth  of  March, 
at  half  after  seven  o'clocJc. 
78  East  57th  Street, 
February  twenty-fourth. 

h)  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boiert  Hammond 

accept  with  pleasure 
the  Tcind  invitation  of 
Mr.   and  Mrs.   Clarice 
to  dinner  on  Wednesday  evening, 
the  sixth   of  March, 
at   half -after  seven  o*clocTc. 
858  Dorchester  Avenue, 
February  twenty-fifth. 


BUSINESS  COMPOSITION  267 

c)  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eol>ert  Hammond 

regret  that  a  previous  engagement 
makes  it  impossible  for  them 
to  accept  the  hind  invitation  of 

Mr.  and  Mrs.   Harold  Clarke 
to  dinner  on  Wednesday  evening, 
the  sixth  of  March. 
858  Dorchester  Avenue, 
February  twenty-fifth. 


You  may  sum  up  these  studies  in  business  composition 
and  social  letters  in  this  way : 

The  formal  side  of  letters  is  very  important.  It  is  almost 
completely  fixed  and  conventional,  in  business  letters  ad- 
mitting of  only  the  slightest  variation.  It  can  be  mastered 
with  a  slight  expenditure  of  patience  and  determination. 
And  since  the  details  of  the  formal  side  of  letter-writing 
are  the  point  at  which  the  young  business  writer  is  most 
severely  criticized,  it  behooves  him  to  perfect  himself  in 
these  at  once. 

In  subject-matter  and  tone,  business  composition  should 
show  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject  handled ;  should 
be  executed  with  the  utmost  promptness;  should  be  as 
cordial  and  as  personal  as  is  consistent  with  sincerity  and 
dignity;  and  should  be  unfailingly  patient  and  courteous. 


INDEX 


[The  Numbers  Refer  to  Pages.] 


Abbreviations,  160-63;  of  names 
of  states,  161-62;  list  of  stand- 
ard, 162-63;  in  heading  and 
address  of  letters,  202,  264;  in 
direction  of  letter,  206. 

-ahle  and  -ihle,  153. 

Accent,  shifting  of,  133. 

Acknowledgment,  of  order,  231- 
32;  of  complaint,  236;  of  re- 
mittance, 212. 

Adapting  material  to  different 
persons  and  purposes,  76. 

Address  of  letter,  199,  201-4, 
263 ;  abbreviations  in,  206,  264 ; 
punctuation  of,  206,  264;  titles 
used  in,  202. 

Adjectives  and  adverbs,  inflec- 
tion of,  6-7;  that  can  not  be 
compared,  9;  confused  in  use, 
34. 

Adjective  and  noun,  agreement 
of,  26. 

Adjustment,  letters  of,  235-37. 

Advertisements,  112-14,  120, 
252-53 ;  positions  advertised, 
218-21;  advertising  for  a  po- 
sition, 253;  advertising  copy, 
121,   188,  252. 

Agreement,  grammatical  princi- 
ple of,  21-29;  of  verb  and  sub- 
ject, 21-26;  of  adjective  and 
noun,  26;  of  pronoun  and  an- 
tecedent, 26-28;   apparent,  33. 

Ain't,  22. 

Analysis,  117. 

"and   which,"   92. 

Antonyms,  80. 

Anyone,   anybody,   etc.,   28. 

Apostrophe,   2,    191. 


Application,  letter  of,  35,  218-24. 

Arrangement,  correct,  57-67 ; 
central  rule  of,  in  sentences, 
57;  normal,  in  sentences,  57; 
of  matter  in  paragraphs,  66. 

"Assembled"  letters,  215-16. 

Beauty,  x-xi. 

Be,  case  of  nouns  and  pronouns 

after,  33. 
Bill,  257;  of  lading,  262. 
Body  of  letter,  199,  205,  207-12. 
Bond,    with    application,    giving, 

Brackets,  190. 

Brevity,  87. 

Business,  communication,  three 
processes  of,  197;  composi- 
tion, 196-267;  correspondent, 
196;  English,  xi-xii;  letters 
in,  196;  papers  commonly 
used,  255;  composition,  exer- 
cises in,  19,  30,  35,  55,  68,  84, 
104,  120. 

Cablegram,  250. 

Capitals,  use  of,   165-68. 

Check,  259;   certified,  259. 

Clearness,  a  necessity  in  all  writ- 
ing, X,  86-103;  in  sentence 
structure,  101;  in  paragraph 
structure,  102 ;  correctness 
and,  86;  brevity  and,  87;  sim- 
plicity and,  88;  clear  use  of 
reference  words,  89;  repetition 
and,  93;  connectives  and,  97. 

Close,  of  speech,  138;  of  letter, 
240;  complimentary,  199,  205, 
264. 


269 


270 


INDEX 


Collection  letters,  237-38. 

Collective  noun,  agreement  of, 
with  verb,  24. 

Colloquialism,  123-24,  262. 

Colon,  176. 

Comma,   179-88. 

Comparison,  of  adjectives  and  ad- 
verbs, 6. 

Comparisons,  likeness  and  con- 
trast,  100. 

Complaint,  letter  of,  235-37. 

Complimentary  close,  199,  264. 

Compound  nouns,  possessive  of,  3. 

Compound  words,  spelling  of,  163. 

Concrete  instance,  the,  110. 

Conclusion,  reaching  a,  118. 

Condensations,  conversational, 
123;  of  telegrams,  250. 

Conjugation,  10. 

Conjunctions,  correlative,  49; 
list  of,  97. 

Connecting  words,  97. 

Connectives,  97,  98-99. 

Conspicuous  place  in  sentence, 
108. 

Contractions,  160. 

Conventions  in  business  letters, 
197. 

Conventional  phrases  to  be  avoid- 
ed, 209. 

Conversational  manners,   124. 

Conviction,   137. 

"Copy"  in  advertisement,  121, 
188,  252. 

Corporation,    addressing   a,    203. 

Correct  arrangement,  57-67. 

Correctness,  academic  or  learned, 
xii-xiii;  grammatical,  1-35;  in 
diction,  36-54;  in  arrange- 
ment, 57-67. 

Correlatives,  49 ;  placing  of,  59- 
60. 

Correspondent,  business,  training 
of,    196. 

Dash,  188-90. 

Date,  199,  200,  263,  265. 

Debate,  formal,  135. 

Declension,   1-6. 

Derivatives,  spelling  of,  148-52. 

Diacritical   marks,    129-30. 


Diagram  of  letter,  199. 
Dialect,  123. 

Diction,  correctness  in,  36-54. 
Dictionary,  v;  eleven  steps  in  the 

study  of  a  word  in,  73-75. 
Direction  on  envelope,  206. 
Division  of  words,   169-70. 
Don't  and  doesn't,  22. 
Double  negatives,  50. 
Draft,  bank,  260. 
Drama,  business,  84. 
Dramatic      gift      and      business 

speech,  127. 

Effectiveness,  105-19;  mechan- 
ical devices  for  producing, 
106-7;  placing  of  material 
in  sentence  for,  107;  in  para- 
graph, 108;  specific  and  con- 
crete terms  as  means  to,  110; 
relevancy  and,   111-13. 

ei  and  ie,  152. 

either  .  .  .  or,  23. 

Ellipsis,  94. 

Emphasis,  106. 

Englisn,  good,  ix. 

Enunciation,  128. 

Exactness,  114. 

Exaggeration,  42,  115. 

Examples,  the  use  of,  99. 

Exclamation  mark,  175. 

Express  money  order,  261. 

False  refinement,  44. 

Favors,     asking     and     granting, 

233-35. 
Fine  writing,  43. 
Firms,  addressing,  202. 
First  impression,  good,   197. 
Focus,  emphasis  on,  118. 
Folding  a  letter,  198. 
Follow-up  letters,  246-47. 
Force,  x,  165. 
Form- letters,  214. 
Formal  parts  of  letter,  199-207. 
Former  and  latter,  92. 

General  terms,  72,  111. 

Government,  31-34;  by  verbs, 
31;  by  prepositions,  32;  appar- 
ent, 33. 


INDEX 


271 


Grammar,  the  two  aspects  of, 
xiv;  three  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of,  XV;  grammatical  cor- 
rectness, 1-34. 

Hackneyed   phrases,   41-42. 

Heading  of  a  letter,  199-200,  263. 

Hearing  a  good  speaker,  76. 

Homonyms,  spelled  alike,  81; 
not  spelled  alike,  155. 

Hyphen  in  compound  words, 
163-65. 

Inclosures,  letters  containing, 
212-13. 

Inflection,  1-18;  of  nouns  and 
pronouns,  1-6;  of  adjectives 
and  adverbs,  6-10;  of  verbs, 
10-18. 

Idioms,  47. 

I-letters,  210-11;  263. 

Incorrectly  placed  words,  58. 

Infinitive  phrase,  62;  split  infini- 
tive, 62. 

Inquiry  and  reply,  letters  of, 
226-28;  letters  of  confidential, 
228. 

Interrogation  mark,  174. 

Introduction,  of  speech,  137; 
letters  of,  225-26. 

Invitations,  formal,  informal, 
264-67;   replies  to,  265-67. 

Invoice,  257. 

ise — ize,  153. 

It,  the  indefinite,  90. 

Lading,  bill  of,  262. 

Lay  and  lie,  15. 

Letters,  business,  196-249;  so- 
cial, 262-64;  of  application, 
35,  218-23;  as  business  agents, 
196 ;  formal  parts  of,  199-207 ; 
diagram  of  letter,  199;  letter- 
heads, 200,  217;  heading  of, 
199-200,  263;  body  of,  205, 
207-12;  replying  to,  207;  con- 
ventional phrases  to  be  avoid- 
ed in,  209-10;  /-letters,  210- 
11;  omission  of  subjects  and 
articles  in,  211;  i/ow-letters, 
211;  tone  of,  211;  of  recom- 
mendation, 224-25;  of  intro- 
duction, 225-26 ;  of  inquiry  and 


reply,  226-28;  of  confidential 
inquiry,  228;  ordering  goods, 
230-31;  asking  and  granting 
favors,  233-35;  of  complaint 
and  adjustment,  235-37 ;  of 
collection,  237-38;  containing 
inclosures,  233;  form-,  214; 
sales-,  239-49;  follow-up,  246- 
48;  series  of  successful,  247- 
48;  the  typewritten,  216-18. 
Lie  and  lay,  15. 

Making  a  speech,  134-42. 
Margins  of  a  letter,  198,  217. 
Matching  grammatical  parts,  95. 
Modifying    clauses    and    phrases, 

placing  of,  63-65. 
Money      order,      express,      261; 

postal,  262. 
Mood,  10. 

Negatives,  double,  50. 

Neither  .  .  .  nor,  23. 

Night  letters,  250. 

Nouns,  plural  of,  4;  inflection 
of,  1-6 ;  possessive  of,  2-4 ;  col- 
lective, 24;  compound,  163- 
65;   verbal,  3. 

Numerals,  spelling  out,  159;  plu- 
rals of,  191. 

Only,  placing  of,  58. 

oo,  sounds  of,  131. 

Ordering  goods,  230-33;  order  for 

goods,  256. 
Organization  of  material,  117. 
Overworked  words,  38-41,  71. 

Paragraph,  in  thinking  and 
writing,  19,  30;  placing  of 
topic  sentence  in,  56;  arrange- 
ment of  sentences  and  material 
in,  66;  clearness  in,  102;  ef- 
fectiveness in,  117;  three  types 
of,  55;  false,  105;  in  letters, 
207-8;   form-,  214-16. 

Parenthesis,  190. 

Participles,  misplaced,  60-62 ; 
vagueness  of,  95. 

Past-participle,  13. 

Payment,  letters  asking  for,  237- 
38. 

Period,  173. 


272 


INDEX 


Personal  pronouns,  inflection  of, 
1 ;  arrangement  of,  24. 

Persuasion,  138,  240,  242-43. 

Plural,  of  nouns,  4;  of  com- 
pound nouns,  5;  of  pronouns, 
1 ;  of  verbs,  21-23;  spelling  of, 
4-5,  154;  of  numerals,  191;  of 
letters  of  the  alphabet,  191. 

Possessive  case,  of  nouns,  1-4; 
of  pronouns,  1-3 ;  of  compound 
nouns,  3;  spelling  of  posses- 
sives,  2-3,  191. 

Postscripts,  198. 

President  of  the  United  States, 
how  addressed,  203. 

Preparation  of  a  speech,  139. 

Preposition,  government  by,  32; 
list  of,  32;  in  fixed  combina- 
tions, 48. 

Pronouns,  inflection  of,  1-6;  pos- 
sessive of,  3 ;  agreement  of, 
with  antecedent,  26-28;  as  ref- 
erence words,  89. 

Pronunciation,   129-34. 

Proportion,  emphasis  by,  109. 

Provincialism,  262. 

Public  speaking,  135. 

Punctuation,  171-95;  in  heading 
of  letter,  200,  263;  in  address, 
201,  264;  of  direction,  206. 

Qualities  of  style,  the  four, 
ix-x. 

Quotation  marks,  191;  double 
and  single,  191-92;  in  titles  of 
books,  essays,  etc.,  192-93. 

Raise  and  rise,  15. 

Receipt,  258. 

Recommendation,  letters  of,  218. 

Reference  words,  89-93;  indefi- 
nite reference,  90-91. 

References,  giving,  213. 

Relevancy,  111-13;  in  a  speech, 
140-1;  in  a  sales-letter,  243; 
in  advertisement,   113,  252-53. 

Remittances,  inclosing,  212-214; 
acknowledging,  212-214. 

Repetition,  94,  109,  124. 

Replying,  to  a  letter,  207;  to  in- 
formal invitations,  265;  to 
formal  invitations,  266-67. 


Reports,   formal,   informal,   254- 

55. 
Requisition,  255. 
Rise  and  raise,  15. 

Salary,  stating  a,  213-14. 

Sales-letters,  239-49;  a  good 
speech,  239-240;  a  good  adver- 
tisement, 240;  opening  para- 
graph of,  240-42;  urgency  in, 
242-43;  body  of,  243-46;  rele- 
vancy in,  243-44;  good  example 
of,  244-45;  poor  example  of, 
245. 

Same  as  pronoun,  51. 

Salutation,  199,  203-4;  in  a  so- 
cial letter,  264. 

Second  sheets,  217. 

Semicolon,  176-77. 

Set  and  sit,  14-15. 

Sentence,  conspicuous  place  in, 
108;  leading  and  subordinate 
thoughts  in,  101;  long,  loose, 
64;  short,  64,  87;  simple,  com- 
plex, compound,  87. 

Shall  and  will,  16-17. 

Shifting  of  accent,  133. 

Shipping  directions,  giving,  230- 
31. 

Signature,  198,  199,  205-6;  in 
social  letters,  264. 

Silent  letters,  131,  156. 

Simplicity,  88. 

Sincerity,  118. 

-sion  and  -tion,  154. 

Sit  and  set,  14-15. 

Slang,  36-38,  71,  123,  193,  262. 

Specific  instances,  99;  specific 
terms,  72,  110. 

Speaking  English,  122-34. 

Speech,  making  a,  134-42;  parts 
of  a,  136-37;  preparation  for, 
135-6. 

Spelling,  147-70;  a  working  vo- 
cabulary, 156;  list  of  practical 
words,  157-59;  exercises  to 
improve,  147-48;  of  compound 
words,  163-65;  homonyms 
spelled  difi'erently,  155-56. 

Spoken  English,   122-46. 

Stamp,  placing  of,  207. 


INDEX 


273 


Statement,  the,  258. 
Stationery,  business,  197. 
Stilted  style  in  letters,  208. 
Strength,' 105. 
Suggestiyeness,  114. 
Summaries,  116. 
Summing-up  phrases,  71. 
Syllables,  169. 
Synonyms,  study  of,  76-80. 

Tabulated  statements,  116. 
Than  and  as,  case  after,  33. 
Technical  yocabularies,  82. 
Telegrams,  249-52. 
Telephone  English,   134. 
Tense,  present,  past,   future,   10. 
They,  the  indefinite,  90. 
"Think     clearly     and     you     will 

write  clearly,"  87, 
This  and  that^  the  indefinite,  91. 
Titles,    spelling   out   of,    160;    in 

address,  202. 
Titles  of  books,  essays,  etc.,  192. 
Tone  of  letter,  211. 
Topic-sentence  of  paragraph,  56, 

103. 
Too  few  words,  47. 


Too  many  words,  45-46. 
Trade-names,    104. 
Typewritten  letter,  the,  216-18. 

w-long,  pronunciation  of,   131. 

Verb,  inflection  of,  10;  tense  of, 
10;  moods  of,  10;  person  and 
number  of,  10;  regular  and  ir- 
regular, 12;  principal  parts  of, 
12-13;  agreement  of  with  sub- 
ject, 21-26;  and  collective 
noun,  24;  goyernment  by,  31; 
of  the  senses,  34. 

Verbal  noun,  possessive  with,  3. 

Vocabulary,  69-83;  ways  of  en- 
larging, 70-83;  technical,  82- 
3;  spelling  a  working  vocab- 
ulary, 156. 

Voice,   speaking,    124. 

Vulgarisms,  44. 

Will  and  shall,  16-17. 
Wireless  messages,  249. 
**  Write  as  you  talk,"  208-9. 

yoM-letters,  211. 


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